 Thus, the early Mamluk embrace of Sunni Islam also stemmed from the pursuit of a moral unity within their realm based on the majority views of its subjects.The Mamluks sought to cultivate and utilize Muslim leaders to channel the religious feelings of the sultanate's Muslim subjects in a manner that did not disrupt the sultanate's authority.Similar to their Ayyubid predecessors, the Bahri sultans showed particular favoritism towards the Shafi'i "madhab", while also promoting the other major Sunni "madhabs", namely the Maliki, Hanbali and Hanafi.