Zahiri school

The Ẓāhirī school (Arabic: ظاهرية, romanized: Ẓāhiryya) or Zahirism is a Sunnī school of Islamic jurisprudence founded in the 9th century by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī, a Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian of the Islamic Golden Age. It is characterized by strict adherence to literalism and reliance on the outward (ẓāhir) meaning of expressions in the Quran and ḥadīth literature; the consensus (ijmāʿ) of the first generation of Muhammad's closest companions (ṣaḥāba), for sources of Islamic law (sharīʿa); and rejection of analogical deduction (qiyās) and societal custom or knowledge (urf), used by other schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

After a limited success and decline in the Middle East, the Ẓāhirī school flourished in the Caliphate of Córdoba and more broadly in Islamic Iberia, particularly under the leadership of the Andalusian Muslim jurist Ibn Hazm. The Ẓāhirī school is said to have "survived for about 500 years in various forms" before being "merged with the Ḥanbalī school", but has also been revived in the mid-20th century in some regions of the Muslim world.

Zahirism is characterized as a fifth school of thought (madhhab) within the Sunnī branch of Islam, and still retains a measure of influence and is recognized by contemporary Muslim scholars. In particular, members of the Ahl-i Hadith movement have identified themselves with the Ẓāhirī school of thought.