Fiqh
Madhāhib side-by-side
Compare the positions of the four Sunnī schools of law on common questions of worship and daily life. Introductory reference — not a fatwā.
Does touching a woman break wuḍūʾ?
Whether skin-to-skin contact between a man and a non-maḥram woman nullifies ablution.
Does not break wuḍūʾ by mere touching alone.
Evidence: Ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ kissing his wife before prayer without renewing wuḍūʾ.
Breaks only if touching is with desire or pleasure.
Evidence: Verse of al-Nisāʾ 4:43 interpreted as touching-with-lust.
Breaks wuḍūʾ by any skin-to-skin contact with a non-maḥram, with or without desire.
Evidence: Literal reading of ‘aw lāmastum an-nisāʾ’ (4:43).
Breaks only when accompanied by desire.
Evidence: Reconciliation of the verse with the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾisha.
Is Witr obligatory or a stressed sunnah?
The legal status of the Witr prayer after ʿIshāʾ.
Wājib (necessary) — closer to obligation than sunnah.
Evidence: Ḥadīth: ‘Witr is ḥaqq (a right due), so whoever wishes may pray five, three, or one.’
Sunnah muʾakkadah (strongly emphasised sunnah).
Evidence: Practice of the Companions never abandoning it.
Sunnah muʾakkadah — one of the most stressed sunnahs.
Evidence: Same evidence, understood as encouragement not obligation.
Sunnah muʾakkadah, and the one who abandons it habitually is sinful.
Evidence: Explicit ḥadīth commanding it.
When should the hands be raised in ṣalāh?
The points in the prayer at which one raises the hands (rafʿ al-yadayn).
Only at the opening takbīr (takbīrat al-iḥrām).
Evidence: Narrations from Ibn Masʿūd (RA).
Only at the opening takbīr (in the well-known position).
Evidence: Practice of the people of Madinah.
At the opening takbīr, going into rukūʿ, rising from rukūʿ, and standing after tashahhud.
Evidence: Ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar (RA).
At the opening takbīr, going into rukūʿ, and rising from rukūʿ.
Evidence: Same ḥadīth, minus the fourth position.
Is Bismillāh recited aloud in al-Fātiḥa?
Whether the basmalah is recited audibly in loud prayers and whether it is a verse of al-Fātiḥa.
Recited silently; not a verse of al-Fātiḥa but of the Qurʾān.
Evidence: Narration of Anas (RA).
Not recited at all in obligatory prayers; not a verse of the sūrah.
Evidence: ʿAmal of the people of Madinah.
A verse of al-Fātiḥa; recited aloud in loud prayers.
Evidence: Narration of Ibn ʿAbbās (RA).
A verse of the Qurʾān opening every sūrah but not of al-Fātiḥa; recited silently.
Evidence: Middle position between Ḥanafīs and Shāfiʿīs.
Is Qunūt recited in Fajr?
The ruling on the supplication of Qunūt in the Fajr prayer.
Not recited in Fajr; Qunūt is only in Witr.
Evidence: Abrogation of the earlier practice.
Recommended (mustaḥabb) to recite it quietly before rukūʿ in Fajr.
Evidence: Practice of the people of Madinah.
Sunnah in every Fajr, recited after rukūʿ of the second rakʿah.
Evidence: Ḥadīth: ‘The Prophet ﷺ continued Qunūt in Fajr until he left this world.’
Not recited in Fajr; only in Witr, and in nāzilah (calamity).
Evidence: Same as the Ḥanafī position.
What is the niṣāb of cash today?
Whether cash zakāh is calculated by the gold niṣāb or the silver niṣāb.
Use the silver niṣāb (612.36 g) — more beneficial for the poor.
Evidence: Analogy with the currency of silver dirham.
Use whichever niṣāb the cash was originally valued in; commonly silver.
Evidence: Same analogy.
Use silver niṣāb by classical position; some contemporaries permit gold.
Evidence: Classical rulings on the two niṣābs.
Use silver niṣāb; some contemporary Ḥanbalīs allow gold niṣāb given modern silver value.
Evidence: Classical texts + contemporary ijtihād.
Many contemporary scholars across madhāhib now permit the gold niṣāb (~85 g) for cash, arguing silver's modern price no longer represents subsistence wealth. Follow your local scholar.
Does eating forgetfully break the fast?
The ruling on eating or drinking while forgetting that one is fasting.
Fast is not broken; continue the fast.
Evidence: Ḥadīth: ‘Whoever forgets while fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for Allah has fed him and given him drink.’
Fast is broken and must be made up (qaḍāʾ), but no expiation (kaffārah).
Evidence: Strict reading that any entry into the stomach breaks the fast.
Fast is not broken.
Evidence: Same ḥadīth as Ḥanafīs.
Fast is not broken.
Evidence: Same ḥadīth.
Can Jeddah be a mīqāt for pilgrims arriving by air?
Whether pilgrims flying in may enter iḥrām from Jeddah rather than the classical mawāqīt.
No — must enter iḥrām before crossing the mīqāt in the air.
Evidence: Explicit ḥadīth defining the mawāqīt.
No — Jeddah is inside the mawāqīt for most routes.
Evidence: Same evidence.
No — same as above; ihram from the aerial parallel of the mīqāt.
Evidence: Same evidence.
No — the mawāqīt are fixed by the Prophet ﷺ; Jeddah is not one of them.
Evidence: Same evidence.
The four madhāhib agree Jeddah is not a mīqāt for those whose route passes a classical mīqāt. A minority contemporary Saudi fatwā permits it — but this is not the madhhab position of any of the four schools.
Is a conventional interest-based mortgage permissible?
Buying a home through a bank loan with fixed or variable interest.
Impermissible — clear ribā. A minority contemporary opinion permits it in dār al-ḥarb under strict conditions; the majority reject that view.
Evidence: Qurʾān 2:275–279.
Impermissible — clear ribā.
Evidence: Same.
Impermissible — clear ribā.
Evidence: Same.
Impermissible — clear ribā.
Evidence: Same.
All four schools agree ribā is ḥarām. Look into Islamic home-finance products (murābaḥa, ijārah, diminishing mushāraka) offered by regulated Islamic banks or cooperatives.
Positions summarised from al-Jazīrī's al-Fiqh ʿalā al-Madhāhib al-Arbaʿa and al-Zuḥaylī's al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh. This is an introductory reference; consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.