Who are the Zahiris, and what is their evidence for the permissibility of a person in a state of major ritual impurity (junub) reciting the Qur’an?

The Zahiri school relies on the ظاهر (apparent meaning) of the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah as a jurisprudential source, rejecting analogy (qiyas), juristic preference (istihsan), unfettered public interests (masalih mursala), and scholarly consensus (ijma') after the Companions. The founders of this school are Dawud al-Isfahani and Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi. The Zahiris permit a person in a state of major ritual impurity (junub) to recite the Qur'an, based on the principle of original permissibility (istishab al-bara'a al-asliyya). They rely on the statements of some of the Salaf, such as Ibn Abbas, Saeed ibn al-Musayyib, and Rabi'ah. Ibn Hazm refutes those who prohibit it by arguing that the hadith of Ali ibn Abi Talib does not explicitly prohibit a junub person from reciting the Qur'an. He asserts that it is merely a prophetic action that does not necessitate prohibition, likening it to other matters that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not prohibit, even if he did not do them himself. He also believes that none of the narrations prohibiting it are authentically established.