Schools of law and creedal schools in Islam
Answers are for parents and teachers.
1
Write a one-sentence explanation of each of the five pillars of Islamic practice.
Shahada – declaration of faith; salat – prayer; zakat – almsgiving; sawm – fasting in Ramadan; hajj – pilgrimage to Mecca (for those able).
2
Make a table of the four schools and their founders with dates.
Hanafi – Abu Hanifa 699–767; Maliki – Malik c. 711–795; Shafi’i – 767–820; Hanbali – Ibn Hanbal 780–855.
3
Write one sentence on what the Maturidi and Ash’ari schools have in common.
Both are creedal schools of Sunnism; Sunni scholars recognise both as schools within Sunnism.
4
Why does the existence of the schools show the scholarly diversity of Islamic law? Justify your answer.
Because different scholars drew on the same sources and reached somewhat different conclusions on some questions, while agreeing on the fundamentals.
5
In which year was the 1130th anniversary of Imam Maturidi’s birth celebrated in Uzbekistan? What does this show?
In 2000; it shows respect for the scholarly and religious heritage and attention to studying it.