How did regional legal traditions develop in the early Islamic empire?

In the early Islamic empire, regional legal traditions developed primarily through study circles known as ḥalqah, where teachers and pupils gathered to discuss and elaborate on legal doctrines. These circles were most active in the Hejaz and Iraq, with additional contributions from Syria and Egypt.1

As the empire expanded, qadis (judges) were appointed to various provinces to manage an increasingly complex administration. These judges pragmatically incorporated elements of Roman-Byzantine and Persian-Sasanian legal practices into their rulings, as the Qurʾān did not provide a comprehensive legal code.23

Over time, these regional traditions were systematized into written legal literature, shifting the focus of school identity from specific locations to the individual jurists responsible for their codification. For example, the school of Medina became associated with Mālik ibn Anas, forming the Mālikī school, while the school of Kūfah evolved into the Ḥanafī school under Abū Ḥanīfah. These schools eventually faced the challenge of reconciling their regional practices with the growing collection of Hadith (prophetic traditions).1