section_path: Law and jurisprudence/Schools of jurisprudence
section_name: Schools of jurisprudence
paragraph_text: Schools of jurisprudence
  
  A school of jurisprudence is referred to as a madhhab (Arabic: مذهب). The four major Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools while the three major Shia schools are the Ja'fari, Zaidi and Isma'ili schools. Each differs in their methodology, called Usul al-fiqh ("principles of jurisprudence"). The conformity in following of decisions by a religious expert or school is called taqlid. The term ghair muqallid refers to those who do not use taqlid and, by extension, do not have a madhab. The practice of an individual interpreting law with independent reasoning is called ijtihad.