ABSTRACT
In the Islamic concept of historical evolution there is a prevailing view that, following the death of the Prophet, the Muslim community is doomed to undergo a process of corruption and religious degradation. The inevitable process of religious degradation implies that innovations increase and traditions decrease, ignorance prevails and the truth is abandoned. Right from the fourth/tenth centuries, but especially in the sixth/twelfth, several Maliki jurists, some very prominent, had directed their activity towards the "Traditionalization" of the Andalusi Maliki school. Ibn Hazm was not successful in his own time, but he left a lasting and influential legacy. The Andalusi Mdlikis were forced to react when faced with the formidable challenge presented by his legal work. Almohads were in favour of some religious and legal practices which ran counter to the traditional Andalusi way of doing things; or, at least, contrary to what certain Malikis maintained as being the traditional way.
