Fiqh · the four schools
The Four Madhhabs & the Evidence-First View
A side-by-side look at the well-known furūʿ (branch) differences among the four madhhabs, and the position favoured by the evidence-first muḥaqqiqīn on the manhaj of the Salaf (Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Bāz, al-Albānī, Ibn ʿUthaymīn) — each with its daleel and the madhhab it happens to align with.
17 masāʾil · 3 sections
Read this fairly. The four imams are all Ahl as-Sunnah, and every madhhab is an effort to reach the way of the Salaf from the Book and the Sunnah. These are furūʿ issues of ijtihād, not usūl — the differences are a mercy and a breadth, never a cause of division, censure, or takfīr. Salafiyyah is not a fifth madhhab; it is the method of taking the strongest daleel on the understanding of the Salaf — which is exactly what the imams taught: "If the ḥadīth is authentic, then that is my madhhab." A layperson worships correctly by following a trustworthy scholar or a sound madhhab; the "evidence-first" column marks the ruling the verifying scholars considered strongest, not a verdict against any imam. Where the muḥaqqiqīn themselves differ, that is stated plainly rather than dressed up as a single "Salaf" position.
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Purification & Wudūʾ
| Masʾala | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī | Evidence-first · Salaf-manhaj | Daleel | Aligns with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Touching the opposite sex breaks wudūʾ | No — touch alone does not break it | Breaks it if with desire | Breaks it by any direct skin contact (incl. spouse) | Breaks it if touched with desire | Does not break it | The Prophet ﷺ kissed a wife and prayed without renewing wudūʾ (ʿĀʾishah — Abū Dāwūd 179, Tirmidhī 86); "or you have touched women" (4:43) is understood as intercourse. | Hanafi |
| Eating camel meat breaks wudūʾ | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Jābir ibn Samurah: asked whether to perform ablution after camel's flesh, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes, perform ablution (after eating) camel's flesh" (Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 706, Kitab al-Hayd). | Hanbali |
| Wiping (masḥ) over socks | Over leather khuff | Over leather khuff | Over leather khuff | Over khuff; thick socks per some | Permissible over ordinary thick socks that stay on | Practice of the Companions (Anas and others wiped over socks); the ḥadīth of masḥ over the khuff read by its ʿillah of hardship. Favoured by most contemporary Salafī scholars. | Hanbali (broadened) |
| Uttering the intention aloud (talaffuẓ bi-n-niyyah) | Some later scholars: permitted as an aid | Disliked | Recommended by some as an aid | Permitted by some as an aid | Not legislated — the niyyah is in the heart | The Prophet ﷺ never uttered "I intend to pray…"; "Actions are but by intentions" (Bukhārī 1) locates it in the heart. Uttering it is an innovation per Ibn Taymiyyah. | Maliki (in spirit) |
Prayer — Ṣalāh
| Masʾala | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī | Evidence-first · Salaf-manhaj | Daleel | Aligns with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement of the hands | Below the navel | Left hanging at the sides (sadl), well-known view | Below the chest, above the navel | Below the navel | On the chest | Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr saw the Prophet ﷺ place his right hand over his left upon his chest (Ibn Khuzaymah 479; and the report of Sahl, Bukhārī 740, on placing right over left). Favoured by al-Albānī, Ibn Bāz. | — |
| Raising the hands (rafʿ al-yadayn) at rukūʿ and on rising | Only at the opening takbīr | Only at the opening (well-known) | At opening, going to rukūʿ, and rising | At opening, going to rukūʿ, and rising | Raise at the opening, before and after rukūʿ | Ibn ʿUmar: the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands at the opening, when going to rukūʿ, and when rising from it (Bukhārī 735–736). | Shāfiʿī / Hanbali |
| Reciting the Basmalah in Fātiḥah aloud | Recited silently | Not recited within Fātiḥah | Recited aloud (a verse of Fātiḥah) | Recited silently | Recited, but silently | Anas: the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar opened the recitation with "al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabbil-ʿālamīn" (Bukhārī 743); in Muslim, Anas adds, "I never heard any one of them reciting Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim loudly" (Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 792, Kitab al-Salat) — i.e. not aloud with the Basmalah. | Hanafi / Hanbali |
| Saying "Āmīn" aloud after Fātiḥah (audible prayers) | Silently | Silently (well-known) | Aloud | Aloud | Aloud | "When the imam says āmīn, say āmīn" (Bukhārī 780); Wāʾil: the Prophet ﷺ raised his voice with āmīn (Abū Dāwūd 933, ḥasan). | Shāfiʿī / Hanbali |
| Reciting Fātiḥah behind the imam | Not recited — the imam suffices | Recited in the silent prayers only | Obligatory in every rakʿah, even behind the imam | Recited in the pauses / silent prayers | Recite it — at least in the silent prayers; balance with listening in the audible ones | "No prayer for one who does not recite the Opening of the Book" (Bukhārī 756), read alongside "when the Qurʾān is recited, listen" (7:204). A nuanced masʾala. | Nuanced |
| Perpetual Qunūt in Fajr | No | Yes (before rukūʿ) | Yes (after rukūʿ) | No — only Qunūt an-Nāzilah | No perpetual Fajr qunūt; only Qunūt an-Nāzilah at times of calamity | Anas: the Prophet ﷺ made qunūt for a month supplicating against tribes, then left it (Bukhārī 4088); his continual practice was not a standing Fajr qunūt. | Hanafi / Hanbali |
| Witr | 3 rakʿahs joined, and wājib | Sunnah muʾakkadah, 1 rakʿah min. | Sunnah muʾakkadah | Sunnah muʾakkadah | Sunnah muʾakkadah (not wājib), odd; best joined with the night prayer | "Make the last of your prayer at night witr" (Bukhārī 998); the Prophet ﷺ prayed 11 with witr (ʿĀʾishah, Bukhārī 1147). Emphasis: sunnah, not obligation. | The three |
| Number of Tarāwīḥ rakʿahs | 20 (practice under ʿUmar) | 20 (Madinan practice: some 36) | 20 | 20 | Valid either way; many favour 11 while holding 20 blameless | ʿĀʾishah: he did not exceed 11 rakʿahs in Ramadan or outside it (Bukhārī 2013). ʿUmar gathered the people on 20 (Muwaṭṭaʾ). No censure of either — quality over count. | Ikhtilāf (no censure) |
| Combining two prayers for travel / need | Only at ʿArafah & Muzdalifah (otherwise not) | Permitted for the traveller (and rain) | Permitted for the traveller (and rain) | Permitted for the traveller, rain, and need | Permitted for genuine travel and need | The Prophet ﷺ combined on journeys (Bukhārī 1673) and even combined in Madinah with no fear or rain, so as not to burden his ummah (Ibn ʿAbbās — Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1528, Kitab Salat al-Musafirin). | The majority (not Hanafi) |
Fasting, Ḥajj & other — including where the muḥaqqiqīn themselves differ
| Masʾala | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī | Evidence-first · Salaf-manhaj | Daleel | Aligns with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cupping (ḥijāmah) breaks the fast | No (abrogated, per them) | No | No | No | Contested even among Salafī scholars — some hold it breaks the fast | "The cupper and the one cupped have broken their fast" (Abū Dāwūd 2367, ṣaḥīḥ per al-Albānī) — some act on it; others hold it abrogated by the Prophet ﷺ cupping while fasting (Bukhārī 1939). Genuine ikhtilāf. | Ikhtilāf |
| Moon-sighting: local vs. global | One sighting binds all (per the well-known view) | Regional | Local horizon (maṭlaʿ) | One sighting binds all | A field of ijtihād — no single "Salaf" ruling | Ibn Bāz favoured following the ruling of the local authorities; others favour a global sighting. This is scholarly ijtihād, not a clear-cut Salaf position — do not present it as one. | Ikhtilāf |
| Raising the finger in tashahhud | Raise once at the shahādah | Move it throughout | Raise once (do not move) | Raise without moving | Point with it and move it in supplication | Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr: the Prophet ﷺ raised his finger and moved it, supplicating with it (Nasāʾī 889, ṣaḥīḥ). A minor masʾala with room for all. | Maliki-leaning |
| Minimum number for Jumuʿah | 3 besides the imam | 12 | 40 | 40 | No fixed large number is authentically required | No ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth fixes 40; Jumuʿah was established with far fewer. Many muḥaqqiqīn hold a small congregation suffices — closer to the Hanafi latitude. | Hanafi-leaning |
Compiled from the well-documented comparative-fiqh positions and their primary evidences. Some madhhabs carry more than one narrated view on a masʾala; only the well-known (mashhūr) position is shown. This is a study aid, not a fatwā — verify with qualified scholars. See also the fuller Comparing the Four Madhhabs page.
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Related
Comparing the Four Madhhabs
Why the schools exist, taqlīd, and Salafiyyah as a methodology alongside them.
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Rulings from Quran & Hadith
Evidence-based answers to common masāʾil, each with its daleel.
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Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamāʿah
Following the Quran and authentic Sunnah upon the way of the Salaf.
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