During this time of tremendous ferment and productivity in Islamic thought, ninth- and tenth-century scholars traveled, taught and disputed along the Silk Road that linked the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia. There were many more luminaries of law than just Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi‘i and Ibn Hanbal. Awza‘i of Beirut, Tabari of Baghdad and Thawri of Kufa developed their own approaches to the Shariah and attracted followers. The legacies of Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi‘i and Ibn Hanbal, however, flourished above all others.
