Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part 1 The History of the Ẓāhirī Madhhab -- Chapter 1 Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī and the Beginnings of the Ẓāhirī Madhhab -- 1 Life and Doctrines -- 2 Teachers and Students -- 3 Muḥammad, Son and Student -- 4 Conclusion -- Chapter 2 The Spread and Retreat of the Ẓāhirī Madhhab -- 1 Third/Ninth- and Fourth/Tenth-Century Ẓāhirīs -- 2 Fifth/Eleventh-Century Ẓāhirīs -- 3 Sixth/Thwelfth- and Seventh/Thirteenth-Century Ẓāhirīs -- 4 Ẓāhirīs after the Seventh/Thirteenth Century -- 5 Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (456/1064) -- 5.1 Life and Doctrines -- 5.2 The Ibn Ḥazm Influence: A Mixed Blessing? -- Part 2 Ẓāhirism: A Critical Review -- Chapter 3 Jurisprudence in Third/Ninth-Century Baghdad -- 1 The Ahl al-Raʼy and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth -- 1.1 Medieval and Modern Literature -- 2 The Ahl al-Raʼy and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth Revisited -- 3 Dāwūd's Ẓāhirism between the Ahl al-Raʼy and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth -- Chapter 4 Ẓāhirism between the Ahl al-Raʼy and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth -- 1 Ẓāhir in the Muslim Tradition -- 1.1 Arabic Lexica -- 1.2 The Qurʼān -- 1.3 Al-Shāfiʻī's Risālah -- 1.4 Al-Ṭabarī's Tafsīr -- 2 Ẓāhirism between the Ahl al-Raʼy and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth Revisited -- 2.1 Ẓāhirism and the Ahl al-Raʼy -- 2.2 Ẓāhirism and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth -- 3 Conclusion -- Chapter 5 Ẓāhirism, Literalism and Textualism -- 1 Textualism -- 1.1 Textualism and Ẓāhirism -- 1.2 Case Studies -- 1.3 Conclusion -- 2 Literalism -- 2.1 Literalism in Religion and Law -- 2.2 Literalism in Linguistics -- 3 Ẓāhirism between Literalism and (Con)Textualism -- Chapter 6 Case Studies -- 1 Long Case Studies -- 1.1 "Touching" Women and Men's Ritual Purity -- 1.2 Breastfeeding and Foster Relationships -- 2 Short Case Studies -- 2.1 The Status of Imraʼat al-Mafqūd -- 2.2 Ṭalāq al-Sakrān -- 2.3 Al-Luqaṭah -- 3 Conclusion -- Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index.