The Maliki school of thought in Ottoman Algeria - Affiliation and doctrinal practice

Abstract

The Maliki school of thought has remained the dominant school of thought in Algeria throughout the various times and circumstances it has experienced. Despite the attempts of the Fatimid state to make it adopt the Shiite school of thought, its attempts were only successful on a narrow and limited geographical area, and it faded away with the passage of time, until the Abbasid state came in the seventh century AD; The Hanafi school of thought found a foothold in Algeria for the first time and was known as the school of the Iraqis. However, it could not withstand the people's adherence to the school of Imam Malik ibn Anas, may God be pleased with him, despite its continued presence there until the eleventh century AD. The latter returned again after Algeria became an Ottoman province at the beginning of the sixteenth century AD, as it was the school adopted in the Ottoman state at that time. However, it is noteworthy that the Ottoman state, represented by its sultans, never tried to obliterate the features of the Maliki school, nor did it try to make it replace the school that had long been established in the hearts of the Algerians, contrary to the custom of kings and sultans. Here we pose the following question: What enabled the Maliki school to withstand the Hanafi school during the Ottoman era, despite its rulers being Hanafi and the state institutions being Hanafi?