The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas (c. 711–795 CE) in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the Maliki school takes a unique position known as Ahl al-Amal, in which they consider the Sunnah to be primarily sourced from the practice of the people of Medina and living Islamic traditions for their rulings on Islamic law.

The Maliki school is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the Shafi’i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the Hanafi madhhab. Sharia based on Maliki Fiqh is predominantly found in North Africa (excluding parts of Egypt), West Africa, Chad, Sudan and the Persian Gulf.

In the medieval era, the Maliki school was also found in parts of Europe under Islamic rule, particularly Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily. A major historical center of Maliki teaching, from the 9th to 11th centuries, was in the Mosque of Uqba of Tunisia.

One who ascribes to the Maliki school is called a Maliki, Malikite or Malikist (Arabic: ٱلْمَالِكِيّ, romanized: al-mālikī, pl. ٱلْمَالِكِيَّة, al-mālikiyya).

Although Malik ibn Anas was himself a native of Medina, his school faced fierce competition for followers in the Muslim east, with the Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Zahiri schools all enjoying more success than Malik's school. It was eventually the Hanafi school, however, that earned official government favor from the Abbasids.

Imam Malik (who was a teacher of Imam Ash-Shafi‘i, who in turn was a teacher of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal) was a student of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and 6th Shi'ite Imam), as with Imam Abu Hanifah. Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni Fiqh are connected to Ja'far, whether directly or indirectly.

The Malikis enjoyed considerably more success in Africa, and for a while in Spain and Sicily. Under the Umayyads and their remnants, the Maliki school was promoted as the official state code of law, and Maliki judges had free rein over religious practices; in return, the Malikis were expected to support and legitimize the government's right to power. This dominance in Spanish Andalus from the Umayyads up to the Almoravids continued, with Islamic law in the region dominated by the opinions of Malik and his students. The Hadith, or prophetic tradition in Islam, played a lesser role as Malikis—like Hanafi jurists—viewed it with suspicion, and weren't very well versed in its study. The Almoravids eventually gave way to the predominantly-Zahiri Almohads, at which point Malikis were tolerated at times but lost official favor. With the Reconquista, the Iberian Peninsula was lost to the Muslims in totality.^{[citation needed]}

Although Al-Andalus was eventually lost, the Maliki has been able to retain its dominance throughout North and West Africa to this day. Additionally, the school has traditionally gained a reputation for being the preferred school in the small Arab States of the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar). While the majority of Saudi Arabia follows Hanbali laws, the country's Eastern Province has been known as a Maliki stronghold for centuries.