Hanafi school

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The Hanafi school^[a] or Hanafism is the largest school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (c. 699–767 CE), who systemised the use of reasoning (ra'y). Hanafi legal theory primarily derives law from the Quran, the sayings and practices of Muhammad (sunnah), scholarly consensus (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas), but also considers juristic discretion (istihsan) and local customs (urf). It is distinctive in its greater usage of qiyas than other schools.

The school spread throughout the Muslim world under the patronage of various Islamic empires, including the Abbasids and Seljuks. Transoxiana emerged as a centre of classical Hanafi scholarship between the 10th and 12th centuries, which gave rise to the Maturidi school of theology. The Ottoman Empire adopted Hanafism as its official school of law and influenced the legal thought of the school, eventually codifying it as the Mecelle in the 1870s.

Followers of the Hanafi school are called Hanafis, who are estimated to comprise one third of all Muslims. It is the largest Islamic legal school and is predominant in Central Asia, Turkey, the Levant, and South Asia, the latter of where it is mainly split between the Barelvi and Deobandi movements.
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