The fifth stage : consolidation period

 It covers the period between the year 950 CE and 1259 CE which represents the decline of
the Abbasid Dynasty.
 The Baghdad was sacked while the Mongols captured and destroyed the Islamic libraries.

The four madhhab

• The number of Islamic Schools of Thought decrease until they reached the main four that we
know of now namely the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’I, and Hanbali.

• The scholars were labeled under the schools they studied under.

• They began the practice of analyzing the rulings of their founding fathers instead of went
back to the Qur’an and the Sunnah and the sayings of the companions.

Taqlid and its reasons

Factors taqlid

 the fall of the Abbasid empire caused the states under it to be different sects
 schools of fiqh were formed based on their sects
 individuals make ijtihad to distort religion according to their will
 the judge's decision is influenced by the sect

Reason

 taqlid and factionalism are rampant

 ijtihad is no longer necessary because they assume all problems have been raised

Contribution of the scholars of this period

 the efforts of the scholars on developing the mazhab and their focus was also obvious in
editing and revising previous works.
 They also made limited ijtihad on issues which the founders had not come across.
 The scholars of the mazhab also made efforts to distinguish the strongest view from others
who had different given views on specific issues which this process is called as tarjih.
 The format for writing fiqh books evolved and the format became a standard which has
remained in practice until today.
 In dealing with any of these issues, and author from any one Madh-hab would mention the
different proofs used by all of the Madh-hab’s position, while refuting the arguments of the
other Madh-habs.