ABSTRACT
[397] Very early, already in the lifetime of Imām Mālik (d. 179/795), the doctrine of the famous scholar of Medina was implanted in al-Andalus. It flourished there and, right up to the end of Muslim domination, enjoyed an absolute supremacy that was acknowledged by the prince and, virtually unanimously, by public opinion. The aim of these pages is to investigate the underlying causes for [398] such a rapid and lasting success, to examine the causes that have been advanced, and to attempt to explain this success, with reference in particular to the vicissitudes of Mālikism in Ifrīqiya.
