Madhab

Definition of "Madhab"

(lit. way of going, pl. madhahib) A fiqh school or orientation characterized by differences in the methods by which certain source-texts are understood and therefore differences in the Shari`ah rulings which are deduced from them. There are four well-known madhahib among Sunni Muslims whose names are associated with the classical jurists who are said to have founded them (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i and Hanbali).