Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i

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Abu ?Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi?i Full name Abu ?Abdullah Muhammad ibn
Idris al-Shafi?i
Born 767
Gaza, Palestine
Died 820
Fustat, Egypt
Era Islamic Golden Age
Region Muslim Jurist
School Sunni Shafi`i
Main interests Fiqh
Notable ideas Evolution of Fiqh
Influenced by[show]
Imam Malik[1]
Part of a series on
Sunni Islam

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Beliefs
Monotheism
Prophethood / Messengership
Holy Books · Angels
Judgement Day · Predestination
Five Pillars
Declaration of Faith · Prayer
Charity · Fasting · Pilgrimage
Rightly guided Caliphs
Abu Bakr · Umar ibn al-Khattab
Uthman ibn Affan · Ali ibn Abi Talib
Schools of Law (Shariah)
Hanafi · Shafi`i · Maliki
Hanbali · Ahl-e-Hadith
Schools of Theology
Athari · Maturidi · Ash'ari
Hadith collections
Sahih al-Bukhari · Sahih Muslim
Al-Sunan al-Sughra
Sunan Abu Dawood
Sunan al-Tirmidhi
Sunan ibn Majah · Al-Muwatta
Sunan al-Darimi
v d e
Abu ?Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi?i (Arabic: ??? ??????? ???? ?? ????? ?
????????) was a Muslim jurist, who lived from 767 CE to 820 CE. He was active in
juridical matters and his teaching eventually led to the Shafi'i school of fiqh
(or Madh'hab) named after him. Hence he is often called Imam al-Shafi'i. He is
considered the founder of Islamic jurisprudence.[2]:1
Contents [hide]
1 Introduction
2 Family
2.1 767 786: Al-Mansur to Al-Hadi's era
2.1.1 Early life, studies with Imam Malik
2.2 786 809: Harun al-Rashid's era
2.3 809 813: Al-Amin's era
2.4 813 820: Al-Ma'mun's era
2.4.1 Death
3 Views on Shi'ites
4 Legacy
4.1 Works
4.2 Sunni view
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Introduction
The biography of al-Shafi'i is difficult to trace. The oldest surviving biograph
y goes back to Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (died 327H/939) and is no more than a colle
ction of anecdotes, some of them fantastic. The first real biography is by Ahmad
Bayhaqi (died 458H/1066) and is filled with pious legends. The following is wha
t seems to be a sensible reading.
[edit] Family
Al-Shafi'i belonged to the Qurayshi clan Banu Muttalib which was the sister clan
of the Banu Hashim to which Muhammad and the Abbasid caliphs belonged. Hence he
had connections in the highest social circles, but he grew up in poverty.
[edit] 767 786: Al-Mansur to Al-Hadi's era
[edit] Early life, studies with Imam Malik
He was born in Gaza and moved to Mecca when he was about two years old. He is re
ported to have studied with the "School of Mecca" (which might not even have exi
sted, although some scholars are reported to have been active there)[citation ne
eded]. Then he moved to Madinah to teach others of the message of Islam and be t
aught by Malik ibn Anas.
[edit] 786 809: Harun al-Rashid's era
After that he lived in Mecca, Baghdad and finally Egypt.
Among his teachers were Malik ibn Anas and Mu?ammad ibn al-?asan al-Shaybani, wh
om he studied under in Madinah and Baghdad.
At the time of Harun ar-Rashid, he had an appointment in Yemen, as a judge in Na
jran. Sunnis portray that his devotion to justice, even when it meant criticizin
g the governor, caused him some problems, and he was taken before the Caliph, fa
lsely accused of aiding the Alawis in a revolt. At this time, al-Shaybani was th
e chief justice, and his defense of ash-Shafi'i, coupled with ash-Shafi'i s own el
oquent defense, convinced Harun ar-Rashid to dismiss the charge, and to direct a
l Shaybani to take ash-Shafi'i to Baghdad.He was also a staunch critic of Al-Waq
idi's writings on Sirah.
In Baghdad, he developed his first madhab, influenced by the teachings of both I
mam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik. Thus, his work there is known as al Madhab al Qadi
m lil Imam as Shafi i, or the Old School of ash-Shafi'i.
[edit] 809 813: Al-Amin's era
This section requires expansion.
[edit] 813 820: Al-Ma'mun's era
[edit] Death
He died at the age of 54 on the 30th of Rajab in 204 AH (820 AD). He was buried
in al-Fustat, Egypt.
[edit] Views on Shi'ites
Imam ash-Shaafi`i said concerning the Shi`ites, "I have not seen among the heret
ics a people more famous for falsehood than the Raafidite Shi`ites." [3]
On another occasion he said, "Narrate knowledge from everyone you meet except th
e Raafidite Shi`ites, because they invent Hadeeths and adopt them as part of the
ir religion." [4]
[edit] Legacy
Saladin built a madrassa and a shrine on the site of his tomb. Saladin's brother
Afdal built a mausoleum for him in 1211 after the defeat of the Fatamids. It re
mains a site where people petition for justice.[5]
Shafi'i developed the science of fiqh unifying 'revealed sources' - the Quran an
d hadith - with human reasoning to provide a basis in law. With this systematiza
tion of shari'a he provided a legacy of unity for all Muslims and forestalled th
e development of independent, regionally based legal systems. The four Sunni leg
als schools or madhhabs- keep their traditions within the framework that Shafi'i
established.
Shafi'i gives his name to one of these legal schools Shafi'i fiqh - the Shafi'i
school - which is followed in many different places in the Islamic world: Indone
sia, Malaysia, Egypt, Somalia, Yemen and southern parts of India.
Today, many English speaking Muslims are introduced to the madhab of Imam Shafi i
through the translated works Umdat as Salik (Reliance of the Traveller) and al M
aqasid, both done by Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.
Among the followers of Imam Shafi i s school were:
Muhammad al-Bukhari
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj[citation needed]
Abu Da'ud[citation needed]
Al-Tirmidhi[citation needed]
Izz bin Abdul Salaam
Al-Nasa'i[citation needed]
Ibn Majah[citation needed]
Imam Bayhaqi[citation needed]
Hakim al-Nishaburi[citation needed]
ibn Hibban[citation needed]
Suyuti[citation needed]
Al-Dhahabi[citation needed]
al Ghazali
Al-Nawawi
[edit] Works
He authored more than 100 books.
Al-Risala The best known book by al-Shafi'i in which he examined usul al-fiqh (s
ources of jurisprudence): the Qur'an, the Sunnah, qiyas (analogy), and ijma' (sc
holarly consensus). There is a good modern translation.
Kitab al-Umm - his main surviving text on Shafi'i fiqh
Musnad Ash-Shafi'i (on hadith) - it is available with arrangement, Arabic 'Tarti
b', by Ahmad ibn Abd-Ar-Rahman al-Banna
[edit] Sunni view
Many stories are told about the childhood and life of ash-Shafi'i, and it is dif
ficult to separate truth from myth:
Tradition says that he memorized the Qur an at the age of seven; by ten, he had me
morized the Muwatta of Imam Malik; he was a mufti (given authorization to issue
fatwa) at the age of fifteen. He recited the Qur an every day in prayer, and twice
a day in Ramadan. Some apocryphal accounts claim he was very handsome, that his
beard did not exceed the length of his fist, and that it was very black. He wor
e a ring that was inscribed with the words, Allah suffices Muhammad ibn Idris as
a reliance. He was also known to be very generous.
He was also an accomplished archer, a poet, and some accounts call him the most
eloquent of his time. Some accounts claim that there were a group of Bedouin who
would come and sit to listen to him, not for the sake of learning, but just to
listen to his eloquent use of the language. Even in latter eras, his speeches an
d works were used by Arabic grammarians. He was given the title of Nasir al Sunn
ah, the Defender of the Sunnah.
He loved Muhammad very deeply. Al Muzani said of him, He said in the Old School: S
upplication ends with the invocation of blessings on the Prophet, and its end is
but by means of it. Al-Karabisi said: I heard al-Shafi i say that he disliked for so
meone to say the Messenger (al-Rasul), but that he should say Allah s Messenger (Rasul
Allah) out of veneration for him. He divided his night into three parts: one for
writing, one for praying, and one for sleeping.
Apocryphal accounts claim that Imam Ahmad said of ash-Shafi'i, I never saw anyone
adhere more to hadith than al-Shafi i. No one preceded him in writing down the ha
dith in a book. Imam Ahmad is also claimed to have said, Not one of the scholars o
f hadith touched an inkwell nor a pen except he owed a huge debt to al-Shafi i.
Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani said, If the scholars of hadith speak, it is in the lan
guage of al Shafi i.
Shah Waliullah, a 18th century Sunni Islamic scholar stated [6]:
A Mujadid appears at the end of every century: The Mujtahid of the 1st century w
as Imam of Ahlul Sunnah, Umar bin Abdul Aziz. The Mujadid of the 2nd century was
Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Muhammad Idrees as-Shafi'i the Mujadid of the 3rd century
was Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Abu Hasan Ashari the Mujadid of the 4th century was Abu
Abdullah Hakim Nishapuri.
According to many accounts he was said to have a photographic memory. One anecdo
te states that he would always cover one side of a book while reading because a
casual glance at the other page would commit it to memory.
[edit] See also
Fiqh
Shafi'i
[edit] References
^ The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, the Muwa??a' and Madinan ?Amal, by Yas
in Dutton, pg. 16
^ Fadel M. (2008). The True, the Good and the Reasonable: The Theological and Et
hical Roots of Public Reason in Islamic Law. Canadian Journal of Law and Jurispr
udence.
^ Madrassah In'aamiyah- Islamic Ruling on the Shi'ites
^ Madrassah In'aamiyah- Islamic Ruling on the Shi'ites
^ Ruthven Malise, Islam in the World. 3rd edition Granta Books London 2006 ch. 4
, page 122
^ Izalat al-Khafa p. 77 part 7
Ruthven Malise, Islam in the World. 3rd edition Granta Books London 2006 ch. 4
Also: "al-Shafi'i's Risala: Treatise on the Foundation of Islamic Jurisprudence"
Majid Khadduri. Original 1961, reprinted 1997. ISBN 0-946621-15-2.
al-Shafi'i,Muhammad b. Idris,"The Book of the Amalgamation of Knowledge" transla
ted by Aisha Y. Musa in Hadith as Scripture: Discussions on The Authority Of Pro
phetic Traditions in Islam, New York: Palgrave, 2008
[edit] External links