By the 9th century, Maliki jurisprudence became the leading legal approach in Umayyad al-Andalus, replacing earlier dominance by other legal traditions in official practice. Scholars trained in Medina and North Africa helped carry Maliki legal opinions into Córdoba’s scholarly world. This created a shared legal vocabulary across the western Islamic lands, making later institutional exchange easier.
In the 9th century, the Maliki school (one of the major Sunni legal traditions) was strengthened in North Africa through foundational texts. A key compilation was the Mudawwana, associated with the jurist Sahnun (d. 854), which helped standardize Maliki legal reasoning used by judges and teachers. This legal base later supported the westward transmission of jurisprudence through teaching circles and formal schools.
In the late 850s, al-Qarawiyyin was founded in Fez as a mosque and grew into a major center for religious learning. Over time, scholars taught Islamic law there alongside Arabic language and other subjects. Its reputation helped make Fez a key hub linking North Africa’s jurists and students to wider western Islamic networks.
In 1147, the Almohads captured Marrakesh, ending Almoravid rule in Morocco and accelerating political change across the region. This shift affected how religious authority was organized, including the relationship between rulers, judges, and scholars. Even when legal debates were intense, the broader west (Maghreb and al-Andalus) remained closely connected through scholars and state service.
Qadi Iyad (1083–1149), a leading Maliki jurist and judge from Ceuta, represents the mature scholarly networks of the western Islamic world. His work and teaching helped connect legal learning across the Strait of Gibraltar, where scholars circulated between North Africa and Iberia. Such figures helped transmit standards for legal education and authority (like who could issue a legal opinion).
In 1169, Ibn Rushd (Averroes) was appointed a judge in Seville, combining legal work with wide-ranging scholarship. His career shows how jurists in al-Andalus could also participate in broader intellectual life while holding judicial office. This model of scholar-judge influenced how law was taught and defended in western Islamic societies.
In 1271, the Marinid rulers established the Saffarin Madrasa in Fez, an early example of a purpose-built madrasa (a school for advanced Islamic studies, especially law). These institutions supported the Maliki legal tradition by funding teachers, housing students, and structuring education more formally than earlier mosque-based study circles alone. The Marinid program helped turn Fez into a regional center for training jurists.
Between 1323 and 1325, the Marinids built the Al-Attarine Madrasa next to al-Qarawiyyin, strengthening Fez’s educational core. Its location shows how new madrasas were designed to work alongside major mosques and libraries, reinforcing established scholarly authority. This helped standardize training for legal specialists who could serve as judges and notaries across North Africa.
In 1349, the Nasrid ruler Yusuf I founded the Madrasa of Granada, bringing the madrasa model into the last major Muslim kingdom in Iberia. The institution taught subjects including Islamic law and other sciences, and it trained scholars who also served the state. It reflects how educational forms developed in the Maghreb could be adapted in al-Andalus under different political conditions.
From 1350 to 1355, the Marinid sultan Abu Inan Faris built the Bou Inania Madrasa in Fez, which also functioned as a congregational mosque. As a flagship institution, it symbolizes how rulers used architecture and endowments to support legal and religious education. Such major madrasas helped produce a steady supply of Maliki-trained scholars across the western Islamic world.
On 1491-11-25, the Treaty of Granada (Capitulations) set terms for surrender and led to the transfer of sovereignty in January 1492. This political turning point changed the legal environment for Muslim institutions in Iberia, including schools and judicial practice. For Islamic jurisprudence, it marked the start of a new phase in which many legal questions centered on Muslims living under Christian rule.
On 1492-01-02, Granada was taken over by the Catholic Monarchs, ending the Nasrid kingdom and the last Muslim-ruled state in Iberia. This accelerated the closure, repurposing, or weakening of institutions that supported Islamic legal learning in al-Andalus. As a result, North African centers such as Fez became even more important for preserving and teaching Maliki jurisprudence for displaced or cross-border communities.
By the late 15th century, Ahmad al-Wansharisi (1430/31–1508) emerged as a leading Maliki jurist in Fez after earlier work in Tlemcen. His career reflects how scholarly authority and legal teaching shifted toward North Africa as Iberian Muslim rule ended. His focus on legal problems facing Iberian Muslims under Christian rule shows jurisprudence adapting to new political realities.
By the end of the 15th century, the western Islamic legal-educational map had clearly shifted: al-Andalus’s formal institutions were no longer securely supported by Muslim political power, while North African madrasas continued to train jurists. Marinid-era and related institutions in Fez helped preserve legal texts, teaching lineages, and scholarly credentials. This continuity became a major part of the long-term legacy of Islamic jurisprudence and madrasa transmission in the western Mediterranean.
Transmission of Islamic jurisprudence and madrasas across North Africa and al-Andalus (9th–15th centuries)