"Maliki versus Shafi'i Law and Jurisprudence

Underscoring the significance and impact of Shaf'i preeminence in Cairo were the standing differences separating Maliki from Shafi'i law and jurisprudence. At bottom, these differences resulted from the asymmetrical development of these two schools following the 2nd/8th century revolution spearheaded by al-Shafi'i. [102] Al-Shafi'i (d. 204/820) had introduced an essentially new, positivist jurisprudence that stood in opposition to what Professor Joseph Schacht has referred to as the "ancient schools of law" of which Malik (d. 179/795) had been a leading advocate. [103] The mainstay of al-Shafi'i approach, was, according to Schacht, his adoption of the thesis of the Traditionalists, who equated the sunnah of the Prophet with the contents of formal hadiths traceable back to the Prophet via an unbroken chain of transmitters (isnad). Malik, meanwhile, had not only taken the normative practice of Medina to be the embodiment of the Prophet's teachings, he also attempted to establish the probative value of individual Prophetic reports by comparing them with Medinese practice, the precedents of the Righteous Calophs or the views of other prominent Companions. Malik also relied on "personal judgement," or ray', on the basis of which he would at times restrict the application of Prophetic reports or even set them aside. According to Umar F. 'Abd Allah, whose Malik's Concept of 'Amal is perhaps the best - certainly the most comprehensive - study on Malik to date, this particular aspect of Malik's methodology was based neither on a hostile nor even a lukewarm attitude towards Prophetic sunnah or hadith. Rather, his attempt was to remove the textual ambiguities from Prophetic reports by using Medinese practice as the semantic backdrop against which to determine their intended scope and application. [104: U.F. 'Abd Allah, Malik's Concept of 'Amal in Light of Maliki Legal Theory (Ph.D. diss., The University of Chicago, 1978), 135ff.]

I love how they reference each other, ma sha Allah! =)

-Sherman A. Jackson, Islamic Law and the State: the Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (New York: Brill, 1996), 57.

Word is that Dr. Umar is revising and publishing his dissertation as a book in sha Allah. His dissertation is available on pdf, divided in eight parts here (thanks Yusuf!)