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Hazm.[1] The Ẓāhirī school is said to have lingered on in various locations under various manifestations before being superseded by the Ḥanbalī school,[9] but has also been revived in the mid-20th century in some regions of the Muslim world.[10][11][12]
Zahirism is characterized as a fifth school of thought (madhhab) within the Sunnībranch of Islam,[13][14][15] 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.[16][17]
^M. Mahmood, The Code of Muslim Family Laws, p. 37. Pakistan Law Times Publications, 2006. 6th ed.
^Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim, "An Overview of al-Sadiq al-Madhi's Islamic Discourse." Taken from The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought, p. 172. Ed. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi'. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. ISBN9781405178488
^Wiederhold, Lutz. "Legal–Religious Elite, Temporal Authority, and the Caliphate in Mamluk Society: Conclusions Drawn from the Examination of a “Zahiri Revolt” in Damascus in 1386." International Journal of Middle East Studies 31.2 (1999): 203-235.