The Translation of the Second Section of Tarikh Al-Mazahib Al-Islamiyyah (Section of Tarikh Al-Mazahib Al-Fiqhiyyah)

Muhammad Abu-Zahra is one of the contemporary Egyptian experts in Islamic jurisprudence and denominations. He is well-known for his diverse books and papers in the fields of jurisprudence, Usul, history, Rijal, theology (kalam), Quranic studies, as well as social and political issues of his time. Therefore, translating his works can prepare the way for scholarly researches. History of Islamic denominations (Tarikh Al-Mazahib Al-Islamiiah) is one of Abu-Zahra’s famous works. The book is 670 pages and consists of two main sections: the first section is allocated to describing political and ideological denominations and the second section to jurisprudential denominations (Al-Mazahib Al-Fiqhiyyah). In the second section of the book, after a voluminous introduction about Ijtihad and its periods since the time of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to the time of Saḥabah and Tabeʿin, he tries to expound the jurisprudential (Fiqhi) foundations and origins of the thought of eight authorities, who had established Fiqh Schools. In this dissertation, the second section has been translated. Abu-Zahra himself is considered as one of the leaders of reconciliation between Islamic denominations in recent decades, and in his book The Islamic Unity (Al-Vaḥdah Al-Islamiyyah), says that supporting the Islamic Unity in speech, writing, and behavior is duty of all Muslims. Despite these facts, his comments about Shiʿa and Shiite beliefs in this book provoke us to scrutinize and sometimes criticize his writings. The introduction of this thesis is about critical reviewing of his comments.