At a glance
- Roles
- Jurist · Scholar
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
Sects and schoolsDevelopment of law, theology and institutions
Overview
Dawud ibn Ali al-Isbahani, known as Dawud al-Zahiri, founder of the Zahiri school. 2
Life
He was born in Kufa around 200 AH, grew up in Baghdad, and died there in 270 AH. 2
His school
Ahmad Amin notes that he first studied the school of al-Shafi'i and defended it, and wrote in praise of it. He then became independent and founded a school known as the Zahiri school, which many people followed, especially in Persia and al-Andalus. 2
He rejected analogy (qiyas) and held to the apparent meaning of the Book and the Sunna, allowing analogy only where the cause was stated explicitly. He attacked the analogists and showed, according to the Book, the errors in legal rulings to which analogy had led them. 3
Note
Another page covers the same person under the name Dawud ibn Ali al-Isbahani; the two pages may be merged.
Connections
- Founder of
- The Zahiri school (madhhab)
People and things also explored
The Zahiri school (madhhab)· Mut'a (temporary marriage)· The Strife over Declaring the Hanbalis Unbelievers and the Looting of the Nizamiyya Market· The Hanafi school (madhhab)· The Hanbali school (madhhab)· The Maliki school (madhhab)· The Shafi'i school (madhhab)· Al-Kadhimiya Mosque (Kazimayn shrine)
Sources
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p. 567-568
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p.567
- Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012) , p.568
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “داود الظاهري”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/dawud-al-zahiri/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-19.