This article is a translation of the book al Imām al Shāfiʿī Faqīh al Sunnah al Akbar (Imam al Shafiʿi, the Greatest Faqih (Jurist) of the Sunnah) by ʿAbd al Ghani.

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Navigation Menu For The Summary

Makkah, Learning, Character, and Appearance

Madinah, Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt

Students, Books, Method, and Rank in Knowledge

Navigation Menu For The Boook

The Name of al Shafiʿi and His Lineage

His Father and His Forefathers

Al Shafiʿi’s Upbringing in Makkah

The First Stage of His Learning

The Second Stage of His Learning

Al Shafiʿi’s Horsemanship, Insight, and Courage

The Appearance of al Shafiʿi and His Household

His Clothing, His Ring, and Its Inscription

His Journey to al Madinah

Al Shafiʿi Looked Towards al Madinah After Taking In the Knowledge of Makkah

The People of al Madinah Were the Most Knowledgeable of the Sunnah and the Actions of the Sahabah

His Journey as He Told It Himself, and His Age at That Time

His Seeking Knowledge From Imam Malik, and Other Shuyukh of al Madinah

His Trust in the Knowledge of the People of al Madinah, and Malik’s Effect Upon Him

Four Strange Matters al Shafiʿi Saw in al Madinah

His Journey to Yemen

His Work, His Rising Status, and the Governor’s Plotting Against Him

He Was Taken to Iraq While Accused

He Was Taken to Iraq and Sought Knowledge While at the Caliph’s Door

His Appearance Before the Caliph and His Deliverance From Execution

A Fabricated Report About Inciting al Rashid to Kill Him

His Move Towards Fully Independent Ijtihad After Taking the Knowledge of al Hijaz and Iraq

His Circle in al Masjid al Haram and the Rise of His Standing Among the Ulama

His Writing of al Risalah in That Period

His Circle in the Western Mosque in Baghdad

His Great Impact on the People of Hadith

Testimonies of the Hadith Scholars About al Shafiʿi’s Merit Over Them

The Outcome of His Scholarly Effort in This Journey

This Journey Is Not Less in Value Than His Second Journey to Iraq

What This Journey Added to His Madhhab

People Turning to Him and the Testimonies of the Ulama About Him

His Position Toward the Madhhab of Malik

His Study Circle in Egypt and Its Variety of Sciences

His Successor in His Study Circle in Egypt

Al Shafiʿi’s Illness and Death

A Notable Story About an Attempt to Move His Body

His Skill in Understanding the Prophetic Sunnah

Al Shafiʿi as the First to Set Down the Science of Principles, and His Book al Risalah

al Shafiʿi Refuses For Anyone To Imitate Him

His patience and lowering his voice in debate

His nobility in debate and the height of his spirit

al Shafiʿi and Speculative Theology (Kalam)

His view on the Qurʾan being created

al Shafiʿi’s View on Seeing Allah on the Day of Resurrection

His View on Preferencing Some Companions over Others

The Language, Adab, and Poetry of al Shafiʿi

al Shafiʿi and early Arabic poetry

The eloquence and clear speech of al Shafiʿi

His Knowledge of the Days of the People

al Shafiʿi’s Knowledge of Lineages

His Insight and His Looking at the Stars

How He Used to Write and Produce His Books

The Scholars’ Care for His Writings

His Beginning in Authoring, and a Listing of His Books

Praise of the Scholars for al Shafiʿi

Al Shafiʿi’s Praise of Some Ulama

Those Who Used to Supplicate for Al Shafiʿi

Al Shafiʿi as the Renewer of the Second Century

Al Shafiʿi’s Piety, Scrupulousness, and Worship

Examples of His Belief, Piety, and Scrupulousness

His Words About Religion, Asceticism, and Piety

Being Invited to the Judiciary

Some Supplications of Al Shafiʿi

Words That Were Unique to Al Shafiʿi

Summary

Origins, Birth, and Family

Imam al Shafiʿi lived in the first century of Abbasid rule, from 132 AH to 232 AH, when safety spread, authority became firm, and speech, debate, and scholarship became very active. Many sciences and philosophies were translated into Arabic, and sects continued to exist and argue, including the Shiʿah, the Khawarij, and the Muʿtazilah, with trials that later reached the ulama in matters of belief.

He was Abu ʿAbd Allah, Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman ibn Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn al Muttalib ibn ʿAbd Manaf, meeting the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in lineage at ʿAbd Manaf. (Jamharat Ansab al ʿArab by Ibn Hazm 73.)

His father was from Tabalah, lived in al Madinah, then moved to ʿAsqalan and died there, leaving little wealth. (Tawali al Taʾsis 49-50.) His forefathers include al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd, who was captured at Badr, paid ransom, then accepted Islam, and the report is quoted: “This is my brother, and I am his brother.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 45.)

His mother is given as Azdi by the stronger view. (al Majmuʿ 1/14.) She is described as worshipful and intelligent, and she corrected the judge of Makkah using the meaning of (al Baqarah: 282), with Ibn Hajar calling this “a strong inference.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 46.)

He was born on Friday, the last day of Rajab, in 150 AH. (Taj al ʿArus, entry: Shafaʿ.) Reports differ on the place, with Ghazzah and ʿAsqalan both transmitted, and the reconciliation is that the region is one, so both reports can stand. (Tawali al Taʾsis 49.)

Makkah, Learning, Character, and Appearance

He grew up in Makkah beside al Masjid al Haram, among circles of hadith, fiqh, research, and debate. He said: “I was an orphan in my mother’s care, and she did not have what she could give to the teacher.” (Sifat al Safwah 2/141.)

He began by taking the teacher’s place when the teacher stood, and his memorisation became so strong that the teacher later said: “It is not permissible for me to take anything from you.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/284.)

He memorised the Qurʾan at 7, and memorised al Muwattaʾ at 10. (Sifat al Safwah 2/141.) (Tawali al Taʾsis 50.) He wrote hadith on bones and palm bases until jars in the home were filled with what he wrote. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/284.)

He lived among the Bedouins to master Arabic, especially with Hudhayl, until he became an authority in language and poetry.

He trained in archery in the desert until he would hit 10 out of 10, and he said: “My aim was in 2 matters: knowledge and archery.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 67.)

He also became strong in horsemanship and courage, and the biography ties this to the Salaf joining knowledge with readiness for jihad. Qurʾan verses are quoted in this context, including (al Anfal: 60).

His appearance is described in detail: tall, long limbed, little flesh in the face, dark skinned, light at the sides of the beard, and he dyed with henna. A trace of smallpox is mentioned around the nose area, and gaps in the teeth are noted. (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.)

His voice and recitation moved people deeply. “When we wanted to cry, some of us would say to the others: ‘Let us go to this young man of Banu al Muttalib reciting the Qurʾan.’” (al Wafi bil Wafayat 2/172.)

His ring inscription is quoted as: “Allah is sufficient as a trust for Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/65.)

His wife is named as Hamdah bint Nafiʿ ibn ʿAnbasah ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan. (al Intiqaʾ 68.) Two sons are mentioned: Muhammad Abu ʿUthman, who became a judge and narrated hadith, and Muhammad Abu al Hasan, whose mother is named as Dananir, and who died in 231 AH. (al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/71-73.)

One daughter is known, Zaynab, whose son Ahmad ibn Muhammad became known as Ibn Bint al Shafiʿi. (al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/186.) A Slavic boy, Itraq, is also mentioned, and strict household boundaries are described. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 277.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 272.)

Madinah, Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt

After taking the knowledge of Makkah and receiving early permission for fatwa, his longing turned to al Madinah to sit with Imam Malik ibn Anas. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/47.)

Al Madinah is described as the strongest land in preserving the Sunnah and the actions of the Sahabah, because most Sahabah remained there and died there, while fewer spread across other regions. (Tartib al Madarik 1/66-67.)

His journey to Malik is narrated in a well known story: the governor feared going to Malik’s door, Malik rejected taking knowledge by official letters, then accepted the young Qurashi from Banu al Muttalib after hearing him. Malik said: “Muhammad, fear Allah and avoid disobedience, for you will have a matter of great matter.”

Al Shafiʿi read al Muwattaʾ himself with strong grammar and recitation, and Malik repeatedly urged him forward: “Young man, continue.” He then remained in al Madinah until Malik died. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/287.)

Reports differ on his exact age when he travelled, but the repeated description of him as a young man is tied to Malik’s saying: “No Qurashi comes to me who understands more than this young man.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 54.)

He also gathered from the other shuyukh of al Madinah, with the report that he “did not leave any shaykh of the shuyukh of al Madinah except that he gathered it.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/283.)

His loyalty to Malik remained firm for life, and his words about Malik and the people of al Madinah are repeatedly quoted. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 196.)

Need later drove him to Yemen, including an appointment connected to Najran, where he used grading of witnesses to establish fairness and remove wrongs, and he refused to be drawn into the interests of people of influence.

Accusations were then raised to Harun al Rashid tying him to an ʿAlawi movement, and he was taken to Iraq while chained. His defence before the caliph includes the famous statement: “O Commander of the Believers, should I leave the one who says, ‘He is my cousin,’ and go to the one who says, ‘He is my slave’?” (Tawali al Taʾsis 70.)

In Baghdad, he met Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Shaybani, wrote down his books, compared their issues with hadith, and debated his companions. Respect between them is repeatedly affirmed, and a fabricated report about inciting al Rashid to kill him is rejected. (Tawali al Taʾsis 70.)

He returned to Makkah, then travelled again to Baghdad in 195 AH for about 2 years, establishing his madhhab and producing major students. (Tawali al Taʾsis 72.)

He returned a third time in 198 AH, then left for Egypt. (Tawali al Taʾsis 72.)

He arrived in Egypt at the end of 199 AH or in 200 AH. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/48.) (al Majmuʿ 1/16.)

He first chose to stay with his maternal uncles from al Azd, then stayed with ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, who honoured him greatly and supported him. (Tawali al Taʾsis 77.)

Egypt became the home of his “new view,” while his Iraqi positions are linked to the “old view,” with al Umm taking the place of Kitab al Hujjah, and the Egyptian Risalah becoming the one most people possess. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/48.)

After Fajr, his daily circle in the masjid followed a set order: Qurʾan, then hadith after sunrise, then discussion and careful thinking, then Arabic, prosody, grammar, and poetry until near midday. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/304.)

Malikis and others testified to his strength in extracting rulings and building foundations, and people from many lands travelled to him. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/61.)

He also went out for ribaat in Alexandria, praying in the congregational masjid, then sitting at the watch post facing the sea and reading the Qurʾan, and in Ramadan a report counts 60 complete readings in a day and a night. (Tawali al Taʾsis 59.)

Students, Books, Method, and Rank in Knowledge

In Iraq, many students are named, and four major narrators of his old books are highlighted: Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Thawr, al Zaʿfarani, and al Karabisi. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah 2/74.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal is quoted with the praise: “I left Baghdad, and I did not leave in it anyone with deeper fiqh, nor more careful with religion, nor more in zuhud, nor more knowledgeable than Ahmad.”

Abu Thawr is described as firm upon the Sunnah for decades, al Zaʿfarani as the firmest narrator of the old view, and al Karabisi as combining fiqh and hadith. (Tawali al Taʾsis 72.)

In Egypt, four leading companions are emphasised: al Buwayti, al Muzani, al Rabiʿ al Muradi, and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah 2/94.)

Al Buwayti is appointed over the circle and later dies in prison after refusing the claim that the Qurʾan is created. Al Muzani is described as the defender of the madhhab and strong in analogy. Al Rabiʿ al Muradi becomes the main narrator of the books, with large numbers travelling to him for the books of al Shafiʿi. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/48.)

He is presented as the first to set down both usul al fiqh and early foundations of hadith terminology. Technical expressions are quoted, such as: “If a hadith is connected back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and its chain is sound, then it is Sunnah.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 232.)

He defined “odd report” in a precise way, distinguished “he narrated to us” and “he informed us,” and treated most disconnected reports as not a proof, with an exception for Ibn al Musayyab. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 323.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 99.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 232.)

He also spoke frankly about narrators, including severe criticism of weak transmitters. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 218.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 220.)

His fiqh is framed as a third path between the path of hadith and the path of opinion, holding firmly to the Sunnah while using sound analogy as a branch of text. Ahmad ibn Hanbal is quoted: “We kept cursing the people of opinion and they cursed us, until al Shafiʿi came and mixed between us.” (Tartib al Madarik 1/95.)

He would leave a principle if an established hadith opposed it, or treat the issue as a specific ruling drawn out from a general ruling. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 87-88.)

The rise of al Risalah is tied to a letter from ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi asking for a work gathering acceptable reports, clarifying abrogation, and organising proof, so he wrote Kitab al Risalah, later writing it again in Egypt. (Tarikh Baghdad 2/64.) (al Majmuʿ 1/16.)

Admiration for the Risalah is repeated through many ulama, including al Muzani’s claim of reading it hundreds of times and gaining a new benefit each time. (al Majmuʿ 1/16.)

His words on knowledge join learning to taqwa and action. “Whoever learns the Qurʾan becomes great in people’s eyes, whoever learns hadith has his proof strengthened … whoever learns jurisprudence becomes noble in rank … Whoever does not protect himself, his knowledge will not benefit him. The foundation of all of that is piety.” (Sifat al Safwah 2/144.)

He also advised the tutor of the caliph’s children to begin by correcting himself, to teach Qurʾan without harshness or neglect, and not to crowd words into the ear. (Sifat al Safwah 2/145.)

Creed, Debates, and Death

He held firmly to the Book and Sunnah and rejected kalam as a path. “Every speech that is from the Book and the Sunnah is the truth. What is besides them is nonsense.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 64.)

He said: “There is nothing more hated to me than speculative theology and its people.” (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.) He also gave harsh warnings against it. (Miftah al Saʿadah 2/26.)

On the Qurʾan being created, he held the Qurʾan is the speech of Allah, not created, and he declared disbelief on the one who said it is created, as in his debate with Hafs al Fard. “You disbelieved in Allah, the Mighty.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 194.)

On faith, he held faith is speech, action, and belief in the heart, increasing and decreasing. (al Intiqaʾ 81.) (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/66.)

He also affirmed the virtue order of the Sahabah as Abu Bakr, then ʿUmar, then ʿUthman, then ʿAli, and he rejected the claim that love for Ahl al Bayt makes a person a Rafidi, while also criticising Rafidah sharply. (Tabaqat al Subki 2/126.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 187.)

His debates are described as unmatched in his time, with sharp mind, fast proofs, and deep control of wording. “I never heard my father debate anyone and raise his voice.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat 1/66.)

His spirit in debate is set on sincerity and love of guidance: “I never debated anyone except that I did not care whether Allah makes the truth clear on my tongue or on his tongue.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 65.)

His debate with Ahmad ibn Hanbal about leaving the prayer is quoted as ending with Ahmad falling silent when pressed on how a disbeliever returns to Islam, and his debates with Muhammad ibn al Hasan include sharp comparisons that separate what looks similar but is not equal in reality. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah 2/61.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 160.)

In Egypt, haemorrhoids appeared, linked in his own words to frankincense used for memorisation: “I used frankincense for memorisation, and it caused bleeding for 1 year.” (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.)

Bleeding continued severely, yet he continued producing his new ijtihad and teaching. Another cause of death is also narrated: a Maliki companion named Fityan insulted him in a debate, was punished by the governor, then his supporters attacked al Shafiʿi and struck him until he was carried home and remained ill until death. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/322.)

A separate claim about an iron key attack is transmitted then doubted by Ibn Hajar. (Tawali al Taʾsis 86.)

In his final moments, al Muzani asked him about his state, and he replied: “I have become departing from the dunya … drinking the cup of death … and arriving upon Allah … I do not know whether my being will go to Paradise … or to the Fire.” (Sifat al Safwah 2/146.)

He recited lines of poetry on hope in Allah’s pardon. (Sifat al Safwah 2/146.)

He asked Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla to read after verse 120 of Al ʿImran lightly, and he asked Idris the worshipper to make duʿa for him. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh 76.) (Tawali al Taʾsis 83.)

He died on the night of Friday after ʿIsha, the last day of Rajab, in 204 AH, and he was buried on Friday, with the crescent of Shaʿban seen after burial, at the age of 54 years according to the widely held report, with another age report also transmitted. (Sifat al Safwah 2/147.) (Adab al Shafiʿi 26.)

He was carried from Fustat to the cemetery of Banu Zuhrah, in the graveyard of Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, and his grave is described with precise location details among nearby graves. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/321.)

A later attempt to move his body to Baghdad is narrated with the opening of the grave, public uproar, then a fragrance that overwhelmed those present until they fell unconscious, leading to repentance and restoring the grave, and a dome was later completed over it in 608 AH with a large cost, with poems said about it.

Full Book

The Era of al Shafiʿi

The finest era of Islam in civilisation, thought, culture, and knowledge was the first century of Abbasid rule, from the year 132 AH to the year 232 AH, and it was the era in which Imam al Shafiʿi lived for 54 years.

In that period, the strength of government and its stability became clear. The khalifah held the reins of the state, spread his authority across its vast lands, and governed with firmness and resolve peoples of different origins, environments, cultures, and levels of civilisation. This strong political face uprooted the ambitions of those seeking power, except for a small group with supporters, who saw that they had a right to the khilafah because of their closeness to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Whenever someone from them rose, his matter was cut off, and his trace was wiped out, until affairs became steady, safety spread, the subjects felt secure, and people were granted freedom of speech, action, and belief, except where it touched the Abbasids’ claim to the khilafah, and except for open displays at times of disbelief, and some slips, such as forcing ulama to adopt a belief they did not want to hold.

Tongues were released, thoughts poured out from minds, opinions, madhhahib, and sects became active, and philosophies, sciences, systems, and cultures were translated from Greek and Persian into Arabic. The gatherings of khulafa, amirs, and commanders became filled with ulama, fuqaha, philosophers, poets, narrators, and storytellers, and the nobles and the wealthy followed them in that.

Every people, Arabs, Persians, Romans, Indians, and others, in that far reaching state, carried with them much from their nation and environment: beliefs, thoughts, ways of living, styles of life, manners, achievements, and natural traits, until the capital, Baghdad, and many Islamic cities, surged with different currents of feelings, thoughts, and beliefs, and opposing temperaments and customs clashed within them.

Then all of that mixed and interacted, producing a complete civilisation, rather a boiling civilisation, in which every colour stirred and grew, from its serious to its trivial, from its good to its corrupt, from the finest of its thoughts to its play and immorality, and from its highest virtues to its vices.

It was not government alone that brought those different nations under its authority. Rather, before everything, it was Islam, the great bond that gathered this mixture.

The state ruled in its name, judges judged by its rulings, the great majority gathered upon it, fought and defended for it, obeyed its commands, and were restrained by its prohibitions.

We are not aiming to detail all aspects of this summary, for this era is well known. Hundreds of books, if not thousands, were written about its political, intellectual, and scholarly history, even the history of its play and immorality. But some words will be said about the Islamic religious side of this era, because it is the foundation of Islamic religious, scholarly, and linguistic history, and because it is directly connected to Imam al Shafiʿi.

Islam, in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, was fresh and pure. Revelation from Allah descended upon His Messenger ﷺ, entered hearts, and minds and limbs obeyed, and because of that it produced on earth wonders: humaneness, purity of conscience, height of spirit, clarity of mind, ability to act, courage, and justice, such that every path of reform was unable to bring the like of it.

This state continued, or something close to it, in the khilafah of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, and in the early part of the khilafah of ʿUthman. Then the state began to change in the souls of some people, when conquests increased and spoils flowed.

People became wealthy, some became occupied with the universe over the religion, and politics poured its bucket. Those who busied themselves with it formed groups for some major Sahabah over others.

This continued until it ended in the blood of ʿUthman in the Day of the House. From there the horn of trials appeared, then trials followed, and sects appeared with them. Their earliest names show a political direction: the Shiʿah who supported ʿAli, and the Khawarij who rose against ʿAli and Muʿawiyah. If sword fighting was severe in battlefields, then argument was even stronger in masjids, gatherings, and societies.

This argument gave birth to beliefs taken by these and those. No one gives himself to argument in religion except that he allows his mind to loosen from the restraints of the texts, and to invent in religion what is not from it, even if he tries to find for his claim some proof from the Book or the Sunnah. In this way, the Muʿtazilah emerged from between the Shiʿah and the Khawarij. They argued with sects, and that also produced principles and beliefs that became the foundation of their sect.

These 3 sects are the ones that separated from the community of believers, made for themselves an independent body, and continued until the era being discussed. As for their state: the Shiʿah were still, under the Umayyads and the early Abbasids, under the biting sword of rule, seeking to uproot them, yet they remained, spread across the land, and split into groups: extreme and moderate.

As for the Khawarij, severe in their religion, sect, and wars, they were struck by fierce wars from the time of ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, until the end of the Umayyads, until little remained of them, in early Abbasid times, as a major danger feared by the state. As for the Muʿtazilah, they were not, in practice, a sect deeply concerned with politics, nor were they a danger feared by the rulers.

Their field was purely intellectual. They wanted to subject religion to reason, and interpret clear texts so that they would fit their principles.

This sect arose at the start of Umayyad rule, developed over time, and used Greek logic and philosophy to strengthen their positions. They agreed upon 5 principles and differed after that, and split into groups, until it was almost that every shaykh among them had his own madhhab and view. Their relationship with Abbasid khulafa in the era being discussed was strong and good, for among their ulama were wazirs, scribes, and judges.

They were advanced even in the private gatherings of the khulafa, especially in the time of al Maʾmun, al Muʿtasim, and al Wathiq, and their view in the time of those khulafa was the one carried through.

The trial of the Qurʾan being created is not forgotten. The influence of the Muʿtazilah on the growth of the intellectual state is not something disputed, even in fiqh, in deduction, ijtihad, and qiyas.

As for the majority of believers, they followed the imams of the religion, who strove to be, in their religion and knowledge, upon the guidance of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Sahabah. The closer they were to that, the nearer they were to the hearts of sincere believers. The farther they were from that, the more hearts turned away from them.

This was the state in the time of the Sahabah and the Tabiʿin, and it was also their state in the first Abbasid era. If there was disagreement among the imams of the religion who followed the way of the Sunnah, it was the disagreement of a mujtahid with a mujtahid in the method of understanding and deduction, the abundance of proofs or their lack, and the demands of environment, interest, and differing customs.

It is far that a proof from the Messenger ﷺ becomes established for a mujtahid without a sound reason to turn it away, then he chooses its opposite, unless he did not know it. The introduction already mentioned, briefly, some stages of ijtihad up to the time of the 4 imams who reached the first Abbasid era, so it will not be repeated here.

The conclusion is that, just as all intellectual, scholarly, and civilisational matters had their growth, development, and brilliance, the same was true for fiqh and ijtihad matters. If it is known that fiqh legislation is the law that organises people’s lives and the relations between them, then the great need for it becomes clear, and the great responsibility of those who carried it becomes clear. They were all deserving of the highest levels of respect, and the most worthy of elevation in the universe and reward from Allah.

It should not be neglected, when speaking about religion in this era, to mention the zuhad, a group who turned away from the universe and its adornment, occupied themselves with obedience to Allah and watching Him, reduced, as much as they could, the enjoyment of the universe, sought its lawful matters, and were occupied by the terrors of the Day of Judgement and the fear of the Hereafter.

It is as if their existence was a reaction to many people plunging into the depths of the universe. They were, however, a lighthouse of guidance in religion, waraʿ, and fear of Allah. From them were: al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad, Maʿruf al Karkhi, Bishr al Hafi, and al Harith al Muhasibi, and others.

They were predecessors of those later named Sufis, and they followed their way, but they turned their actions into a spiritual philosophy and technical terms, and many books were authored on that. It is most likely that naming them “Sufis” began in this era, but the name did not become famous, and the group of zuhad were not widely known by it, until a short time after this era.

This is a quick presentation of the Islamic religious state in the era of al Shafiʿi. The scope does not permit discussion of non Islamic religious matters, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, even though they mixed into many of our religious tendencies, and influenced at times in a direct positive way, and at times in an indirect negative way.

The Name of al Shafiʿi and His Lineage

He was Abu ʿAbd Allah, Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman ibn Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn al Muttalib ibn ʿAbd Manaf, the great great grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ. (Jamharat Ansab al ʿArab by Ibn Hazm 73.)

At ʿAbd Manaf, al Shafiʿi meets the Prophet ﷺ in lineage, for he is from the lineage of his cousin, the Arab Prophet Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ﷺ.

His Father and His Forefathers

Nothing is known about al Shafiʿi’s father, except that he was a man from Tabalah. (Tabalah is a well known town from the land of Tihamah, on the road to Yemen. It is said: “More insignificant than Tabalah to al Hajjaj”, because it was the first district governed by al Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. When he travelled to it he said to the guide: “Where is Tabalah?” The guide said: “Nothing hides it from you except this small hill.” He said: “I do not see myself as an amir over a place hidden from me by this hill.” So he turned back. From that the proverb was said.)

He was in al Madinah, and something disliked appeared there, so he left to ʿAsqalan. (ʿAsqalan is a city from the districts of Palestine on the seashore, between Ghazzah and Bayt Jibrin.) He stayed there, then died there, and he had little wealth. (Tawali al Taʾsis 49 and 50.)

As for his grandfather, al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman, nothing is known about him except that he narrated hadith and hadith was narrated from him. Al Khazraji mentioned him in his Khulasah, and mentioned that he narrated from ʿUmar ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Abi Talib. (Al Khazraji is Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Khazraji al Ansari, known by his book: Khulasat Tadhhib al Kamal. He died in 923.)

As for his great grandfather, ʿUthman ibn Shafiʿ, he lived until the khilafah of Abu al ʿAbbas al Saffah. He is mentioned in the story of Banu al Muttalib when al Saffah wanted to remove them from the khums and give it only to Banu Hashim. ʿUthman stood in that, and returned it to what it had been in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. (Tawali al Taʾsis 45.)

As for Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib, after whom he is named, he was a young Sahabi. The transmitters agreed that he met the Prophet ﷺ while still growing. (See al Isabah 12/134, Wafayat al Aʿyan 1/565, and Tarikh Baghdad, “Muhammad ibn Idris”.)

He is mentioned in a hadith that al Hakim brought, in his virtues, from Anas, who said: The Prophet ﷺ was one day in a tent, when al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd came to him with his son, meaning Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib. The Prophet ﷺ looked at him and said: “From the happiness of a person is that he resembles his father.” (Al Isabah 2/11.) Shafiʿ had a brother named ʿAbd Allah, and he was the governor of Makkah, as al Hakim brought. (Tawali al Taʾsis 45.)

As for “al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd”, the father of Shafiʿ, he had been a mushrik. He carried the banner of Banu Hashim on the Day of Badr.

He was captured, paid ransom for himself, then accepted Islam. It was said to him: “Why did you not accept Islam before paying ransom?”

He said: “I was not going to deprive the believers of a hope in me.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat 2/171, and Wafayat al Aʿyan 1/565.) The Prophet ﷺ said about him, when he and his uncle al ʿAbbas were brought as captives: “This is my brother, and I am his brother.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 45, and al Isabah 2/11.)

It is said that this al Saʾib resembled the Prophet ﷺ in his appearance. (Jamharat Ansab al ʿArab 73.) He once became ill, and ʿUmar said: “Let us go and visit al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd, for he is from the purest of Quraysh.” (Al Isabah 2/11. “Al massas” means the pure part of everything.)

As for ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Yazid, the author of al Isabah mentioned him among the Sahabah, and said: al Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: “His mother was al Shifaʾ bint al Arqam ibn Nudlah.” (Al Isabah 2/438.)

As for his father, ʿAbd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn al Muttalib, he is mentioned in what ʿAbd al Razzaq and Abu Dawud brought, through him, from Ibn Jurayj: “Some of Banu Abi Rafiʿ, the freedman of the Prophet ﷺ, informed me, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas: ʿAbd Yazid, Abu Rukanah, divorced his wife and married a woman from Muzaynah.

She came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘He does not benefit me except like this hair’, and she took a hair from her head. So he separated me from him.”

The Prophet ﷺ called Rukanah and his brothers and mentioned the story. In it: The Prophet ﷺ said to ʿAbd Yazid: “Divorce her”, meaning the Muzaynah woman, so he did.

Then he said: “Take back your wife, Umm Rukanah.”

He said: “I divorced her 3 times, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” He said: “I know. Take her back.” (Abu Dawud said: The hadith of Nafiʿ ibn ʿUjayr and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAli ibn Yazid ibn Rukanah, from his father, from his grandfather, that Abu Rukanah divorced his wife with an absolute divorce, and the Prophet ﷺ made it one divorce, is more sound, because they are the man’s children and family, and they know him better. Ibn Hajar said: If the report of Ibn Jurayj is preserved, then there is no harm that the story occurred more than once, especially since the two wordings differ.) (Al Isabah 2/424.) (The children of Abu Rukanah were: Rukanah, ʿUjayr, ʿUmayr, and ʿUbayd.)

So it is clear that in al Shafiʿi’s lineage there are 4 forefathers in a row who were from the Sahabah: ʿAbd Yazid, then his son ʿUbayd, then his son al Saʾib ibn ʿUbayd, then his son Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib. The mention of each one has already passed.

As for Hashim ibn al Muttalib, he was the son of al Muttalib’s brother, Hashim ibn ʿAbd Manaf, the father of ʿAbd al Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ. Because of the strong bond between al Muttalib and his brother Hashim and his love for him, he named his son after him.

As for al Muttalib ibn ʿAbd Manaf, he was the uncle of ʿAbd al Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ, and he raised him, so he was associated to him after his father died.

That is because Hashim ibn ʿAbd Manaf had married in al Madinah from al Khazraj, and a son was born to him: Shaybah al Hamd, and he remained with his mother. Hashim travelled to al Sham as a merchant and died in Ghazzah. (Because of that it was said: Ghazzah of Hashim.)

Al Muttalib came after that from al Madinah and found Shaybah al Hamd grown. He carried him to Makkah, entered while he was behind him, and some people said: “This is ʿAbd al Muttalib”, and the name stayed. It is said that he was called ʿAbd al Muttalib because al Muttalib raised him, and in the Jahiliyyah anyone who raised an orphan was called his “ʿabd”. (Tawali al Taʾsis 44.)

ʿAbd al Muttalib remained with his uncle until al Muttalib died. Hashim and al Muttalib were full brothers, loyal and close, and the closeness remained between their children. They did not separate in Jahiliyyah nor in Islam.

Ibn Ishaq said: Banu al Muttalib, their Muslim and their disbeliever, were with the Prophet ﷺ and with Banu Hashim, unlike the rest of Quraysh. For this reason, when the Prophet ﷺ divided the khums share of “those of close kin” between Banu Hashim and Banu al Muttalib, ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan and Jubayr ibn Mutʿim came to him. (Jubayr ibn Mutʿim was a Sahabi, from the ulama of Quraysh and their leaders. In al Isabah: he was the most knowledgeable of Quraysh in lineage, and of the Arabs as a whole. He died in al Madinah in 59.) (Tawali al Taʾsis 45.)

They said: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, you gave our brothers from Banu al Muttalib and you withheld from us, while our closeness is one”, pointing out that Hashim, al Muttalib, ʿAbd Shams, and Nawfal were brothers. “As for Banu Hashim, we do not deny their virtue because of your place.”

He said: “Banu Hashim and Banu al Muttalib are one thing.”

In another wording: “They did not separate from us in Jahiliyyah nor in Islam”, pointing to their entering with Banu Hashim into the valley when Quraysh besieged them, so that they would hand over the Prophet ﷺ. This hadith is in the two Sahihs.

A Claim and Its Refutation

What was presented of al Shafiʿi’s lineage, that he was pure Arab, rather from the purest of Quraysh, is what the transmitters, historians, lineage experts, and hadith imams agreed upon.

A group, fanatical from the Malikis and Hanafis, claimed that al Shafiʿi was not Qurashi by lineage, but Qurashi by allegiance, because Shafiʿ, his forefather, was a freedman of Abu Lahab, and ʿUmar did not attach him to the freedmen of Quraysh, then ʿUthman attached him after ʿUmar. This claim is false. Fakhr al Razi refuted the claim of the fanatical Malikis and Hanafis from 3 ways.

The first is that those who opposed him from the Malikis, the Hanafis, and others, in his time, used to argue with him, and some envied him and spoke against him. If he was not Qurashi, they would have attacked his lineage. If they had attacked it, it would have become well known from them. Nothing of that was transmitted from his arguers.

The second is that al Shafiʿi claimed that lineage in front of al Rashid when he was accused alongside the ʿAlawis who rose against al Rashid. If he were from the freedmen, he would not claim he was the cousin of the khalifah while he was brought chained, afraid, waiting. If the lineage was not clear like the sun, a man like al Shafiʿi would not claim it in such a place.

The third is that the leading ulama testified to him with this lineage. Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al Bukhari said in al Tarikh al Kabir when mentioning al Shafiʿi: “Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi al Qurashi.” (Al Bukhari was Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim. He was born in Bukhara, grew up an orphan, travelled widely in 210 AH, and heard from about 1000 shaykhs. He authored al Jamiʿ al Sahih, known as Sahih al Bukhari. He was the first to author a book in that method. He died in 256AH.) Muslim ibn al Hajjaj said: “ʿAbd Allah ibn al Saʾib, the governor of Makkah, and he was the brother of al Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib, the grandfather of Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Muslim was Abu al Husayn Muslim ibn al Hajjaj ibn Muslim al Qushayri al Naysaburi, from the imams of hadith. He was born in Naysabur. His most famous book is Sahih Muslim, and it is one of the two Sahihs relied upon. He died in 261AH.)

Praises of Quraysh

From the most well known tribes of Mudar are Kinanah, and from Kinanah is Quraysh. Quraysh are from the children of al Nadr ibn Kinanah. Everyone from the children of al Nadr is Qurashi. It may be that they were called Quraysh because of trade, from their saying: “So and so gathers wealth”, meaning he collects it, as mentioned in Lisan al ʿArab.

Because of Quraysh’s position among the Arabs, their leadership over the Arabs of al Hijaz especially, and because they were the people of Allah’s sanctuary and the guardians of His House, no one used to harm them in their trade journeys. Others besides them were attacked and raided. Allah, Exalted is He, said:

وَقَالُوا إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَىٰ مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَىٰ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِّزْقًا مِّن لَّدُنَّا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

If we follow the guidance with you, we will be snatched from our land. Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary, to which fruits of every kind are brought, as provision from Us, but most of them do not know. (al Qasas 57)

Allah mentioned what He blessed them with of provision and safety in a noble surah, Surah Quraysh. It is His saying:

لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ ۝ إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ ۝ فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ ۝ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ

For the security of Quraysh. For their security in the journey of winter and summer. So let them worship the Lord of this House. Who fed them against hunger and secured them against fear. (Quraysh 1–4)

The Qurashis were known among the Arabs for reason, wisdom, and forbearance, and for taking themselves with firmness upon the best manners of the Arabs. This is what made them leaders and the people followers of them.

Al Bukhari brought in the virtues of Quraysh, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “People are followers of Quraysh in this matter. Their Muslims follow their Muslims, and their disbelievers follow their disbelievers”, the hadith. (Abu Hurayrah was ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Sakhr al Dawsī, the Sahabi with the most preservation of hadith and the most narration. He accepted Islam in 7 AH, stayed with the Prophet ﷺ, ʿUmar appointed him over al Bahrain, and he held authority in al Madinah for a period. Most of his life was in al Madinah and he died there in 59.)

Muslim brought in al Maghazi of his Sahih, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “People are followers of Quraysh in good and evil.” (Jabir was Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr al Khazraji al Ansari al Sulami, a Sahabi from those who narrated much from the Prophet ﷺ. He and his father were Sahabah. He fought 19 battles. In his later days he had a circle in al Masjid al Nabawi. He died in 78.)

In the Musnad of Ahmad, from the hadith of Jubayr ibn Mutʿim, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A Qurashi has the strength of 2 men from other than Quraysh.” It was said to al Zuhri: “What did he mean by that?” He said: “Sharpness of judgement.”

For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ restricted leadership to Quraysh. He said: “The imams are from Quraysh.” The Arabs do not submit except to this clan of Quraysh.

It is narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not lead Quraysh, and follow them. Do not go ahead of Quraysh, but put them ahead.

Do not teach Quraysh, but learn from them. For the leadership of the trustworthy person from Quraysh equals the leadership of the trustworthy person from other than them, and the knowledge of a scholar from Quraysh is enough to cover the whole earth.”

This hadith was said by ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, on the Day of Haruraʾ to ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas when he sent him to the Khawarij. He said: “Say to them: why do you accuse me?” and he testified: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say that.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra by al Subki 1/198.)

Abu Nuʿaym ʿAbd al Malik ibn Muhammad al Faqih said about the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “A scholar of Quraysh will fill the earth with knowledge”: it is a clear sign that what is meant is a man from the ulama of this Ummah from Quraysh, whose knowledge appeared and spread in lands, and his books were written and studied by shuyukh and young students in their gatherings, and they made them their imam, memorised his sayings, used them in the gatherings of amirs and judges, and judged by them in blood matters and private matters.

He said: this is a description that is not known to have gathered in anyone except al Shafiʿi.

For every Qurashi from the ulama among the Sahabah and Tabiʿin, even if his knowledge appeared and spread, he did not reach a level that this narration could be applied to him, because none of them had except small pieces of issues, unlike al Shafiʿi al Qurashi.

He authored books and explained the foundations and branches, hearts held his speech, and over time it only increased in goodness and clarity, and it reached a level that permits the interpreter to say that he is the one meant by this narration.

The Mother of al Shafiʿi

Most who wrote al Shafiʿi’s history or biography agreed that his mother was Azdi, and this is attributed to al Shafiʿi himself. It was said that his mother was Asadi, and al Azd and al Asad are one thing.

They used as proof that when he came to Egypt, someone asked him to stay with him, but he refused and said: “I want to stay with my maternal uncles, the Asadis”, so he stayed with them.

Some claim that al Shafiʿi’s mother was from the descendants of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and they mention her lineage as: Muhammad ibn Fatimah bint ʿAbd Allah ibn al Hasan ibn al Husayn ibn ʿAli ibn Abi Talib. This is what al Hakim narrated from Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla, who said: “Al Shafiʿi’s mother is Fatimah”, and he gave her lineage as above. (Al Hakim was Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Hamduwayh al Dabbī al Naysaburi, known as al Hakim. He was from the leading preservers of hadith. His birth and death were in Naysabur. He travelled in Khurasan and beyond. He took from about 2000 shaykhs and authored many books, among them al Mustadrak ʿala al Sahihayn. He died in 405.)

Yunus used to say: “I do not know a Hashimi born by a Hashimi woman except ʿAli ibn Abi Talib and al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with them.” Al Taj al Subki held firmly to this view, gave proofs for it, and replied to those who weakened it. (Al Taj al Subki was ʿAbd al Wahhab ibn ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al Kafi al Subki, Qadi al Qudah, the faqih, historian, and researcher. He was born in Cairo, then moved to Damascus with his father and lived there, and died there. His attribution is to Sabk, from the districts of al Manufiyyah in Egypt. Among his works is Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah al Kubra. He died in 771.)

What is closer to correctness is that his mother was Azdi, not Hashimi, and this is what al Nawawi verified along with those who verified it or held it. (Al Majmuʿ 1/14. Al Nawawi was Yahya ibn Sharaf ibn Murri al Hizamī al Hawrani. He was an authority in fiqh and hadith. His birth and death were in Nawa, and to it he is attributed. He has many works. He died in 676.)

Al Bayhaqi weakened the statement that his mother was from the descendants of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, and placed the cause in Ahmad ibn al Husayn ibn Abi Marwan, because he opposed the rest of the narrations, and Ahmad ibn al Husayn, despite that, is weak, as al Subki himself admitted. There are hadiths, especially in al Tirmidhi, about the virtue of al Azd, some sound and some less than that.

His mother, may Allah have mercy on her, by agreement of transmitters, was from those who worship and obey, and from the purest of creation in natural disposition. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/179.) A rare story is mentioned about her sharpness and intelligence: she testified before the judge of Makkah, she and another woman, with a man. The judge wanted to separate the 2 women, so al Shafiʿi’s mother said: “You do not have that, because Allah, Exalted is He, says:

أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَىٰ

So that if one of them forgets, the other reminds her. (al Baqarah 282)

So the judge returned to her view in that. (The other woman was Umm Bishr al Marisi, as in al Tabaqat 2/179.)

Ibn Hajar said: “This is an unusual branch, and a strong inference.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 46.)

His Birth

On the daytime of Friday, the last day of the month of Rajab, in the year 150, Imam al Shafiʿi was born. (Taj al ʿArus, entry: Shafaʿ.) It was the same year in which Imam Abu Hanifah passed away. (Abu Hanifah is al Nuʿman ibn Thabit, al Tamimi by allegiance, al Kufi, one of the 4 imams, the imam of the Hanafis, the faqih and mujtahid. Al Mansur wanted him to take the judgeship, but he refused. Al Mansur swore that he would do it, and Abu Hanifah swore that he would not. So he imprisoned him until he died. From Imam al Shafiʿi: “People are dependants in fiqh upon Abu Hanifah.” He died in the year 150.) No two people disagreed about this, except that some exaggerated and claimed that al Shafiʿi was born on the very day Abu Hanifah died, keen for them to be:

“Stars of a sky: whenever one star sets,
another star appears, and stars return to it.”

People disagreed about the place where he first shone at birth. Ibn al ʿImad said: “He was born in Ghazzah, or in ʿAsqalan, or Yemen, or Mina, these are views.” (Ibn al ʿImad is ʿAbd al Hayy ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿImad al ʿUkri, al Hanbali, a historian and faqih with skill in literature. He was born in Salihiyyah of Damascus. He authored Shadharat al Dhahab. He died in Makkah while performing Hajj in the year 1089.) (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.)

If Mina is set aside because it is very odd, and Yemen because it is weak, unless “Yemen” is meant as its tribes in Ghazzah, then it is hard to reconcile the 2 statements “Ghazzah” and “ʿAsqalan”, both of which are transmitted from al Shafiʿi himself through sound routes. It is clear that Ghazzah and ʿAsqalan are one region and face one another: ʿAsqalan is the city, and Ghazzah is the village.

So when al Shafiʿi said “Ghazzah” he meant the village, and when he said “ʿAsqalan” he meant the city. (Tawali al Taʾsis 49.)

The nearer view is that he was born in Ghazzah, as most people said, then he was carried to ʿAsqalan while still small, as al Hakim narrated with his chain from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. (His biography will come later in the main section, among al Shafiʿi’s students.)

He said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I was born in Ghazzah, and my mother carried me to ʿAsqalan.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 49.)

Ibn Batis said: “What the collected reports point to is that he was born in Ghazzah, then carried from it to ʿAsqalan, then to Makkah, and he grew up there.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 49.)

If the report from al Shafiʿi is sound that he said: “I was born in Yemen”, then it is understood as meaning the tribes of Yemen, who were his mother’s people, because she was Azdi, as already mentioned.

Al Shafiʿi’s Upbringing in Makkah

His Upbringing

Al Shafiʿi was born, as already mentioned, in Ghazzah or ʿAsqalan, but he grew up from his early childhood in Makkah. Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam narrated this from al Shafiʿi. He said: “I was born in Ghazzah in the year 150, and I was carried to Makkah while I was 2 years old.” (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.) This is the most well known and most common view among the transmitters.

As for what Ibn Abi Hatim al Razi narrated from al Shafiʿi, that he said: “I was born in Yemen. My mother feared that I would be lost, and she said: ‘Join your family, so you will be like them, for I fear that your lineage will be overpowered.’

So she sent me to Makkah, and I reached it while I was 10 years old, or close to that”, and so on. (Ibn Abi Hatim is ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Idris al Razi, the hafiz, the trusted scholar, the author of Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih. He died in al Rayy, close to 90 years old, in the year 327.)

Al Hafiz al Dhahabi said about it: “This statement is a mistake, unless he meant by Yemen the tribe.” (Al Dhahabi is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ʿUthman, the hafiz, historian, and verifying scholar. He was of Turkman origin. His birth and death were in Damascus. His works are close to 100. He died in the year 748.) (Tawali al Taʾsis 49. Ibn Hajar said: al Bayhaqi already preceded him to this in al Madkhal.)

Ibn Hajar said: what brings the views together is that he was born in the Ghazzah, ʿAsqalan region, and when he reached 2 years old, his mother moved him to al Hijaz. She entered with him among her people, who were from the people of Yemen because she was Azdi. She settled with them, then when he reached 10 years old, she feared for his noble lineage that it might be forgotten and lost, so she moved him to Makkah. (Tawali al Taʾsis 49.)

His Home

Al Shafiʿi said that his home in Makkah was near Shiʿb al Khayf. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 24.)

In al Intiqaʾ it is mentioned that he used to live in Makkah and would stay outside it in al Bunyah. It seems that al Bunyah was a district in Makkah, though Yaqut, in Muʿjam al Buldan, says: al Bunyah is one of the names of Makkah.

It may be that this was the original, then it became used for a district of it. (Al Intiqaʾ 68.) (Yaqut is Yaqut ibn ʿAbd Allah al Rumi al Hamawi, a trusted historian, from the leading geographers and from the ulama of language and literature. He was originally from the Romans. He was captured as a child and bought in Baghdad by a merchant named ʿAskar ibn Ibrahim al Hamawi, who raised him, taught him, and used him for journeys in his trade. He freed him in the year 596. He died in Aleppo in the year 626.)

The First Stage of His Learning

Al Shafiʿi did not become aware of his existence and environment except in the old homeland of his forefathers, Makkah, the direction of the hearts of Muslims everywhere, the place where revelation descended, and the cradle of Islam.

The greatest thing in Makkah is al Masjid al Haram, where almost every pillar has a hadith scholar, a faqih, a researcher, or a debater, and around them are learners, listeners, and questioners.

In its centre is the honoured Kaʿbah, and tawaf around it does not stop, by night or by day, for all time.

Within all of this, al Shafiʿi opened his eyes and his inner sight. He began to interact with this environment, to take his natural place among the ulama and the nobles of people. How could he not, when he was Qurashi in origin, noble in lineage, the cousin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and is there for someone like him any path other than the path of knowledge.

His intelligent mother wanted to take him to a teacher to teach him reading and writing, as people usually begin learning. But his mother did not have what she could pay the teacher as a wage for teaching her son.

Al Shafiʿi said about that: “I was an orphan in my mother’s care, and she did not have what she could give to the teacher. The teacher accepted from me that I would take his place when he stood up”, and so on. (Sifat al Safwah 2/141.)

In this way, the teacher accepted that his wage would be only symbolic. It appears that he saw in al Shafiʿi sharpness and quick memorisation which made him overlook the wage, rather he may have seen that teaching him did not require effort that deserved a wage.

Al Shafiʿi said: “I would be in the school and I would hear the teacher dictate the verse to the children, and I would memorise it. I used to, and they would write their daily lessons, so by the time the teacher finished dictating to them, I had memorised everything he dictated. One day he said to me: ‘It is not permissible for me to take anything from you.’” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/284.)

He continued like that until he gathered the Qurʾan while he was 7 years old. (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.) This is the first stage of his learning: his movement from not knowing reading and writing, and his memorisation of the Qurʾan.

The Second Stage of His Learning

After that, he entered the masjid and began to go to the ulama and listen to them, with strong desire and a sharp mind, while still living in hardship and little wealth. He did not even find the price of paper to write down some of what he heard of knowledge. So he began to pick up bones, shoulder blades of camels, and other things.

He spoke about this period and said: “Then when I left the school, I used to pick up shards and tambourines’ skins, and palm fronds’ thick bases, and camel shoulder blades. I would write the hadith on them.

I would come to the record offices and ask them to gift me used sheets, so I could write on them, until my mother had large jars, and I filled them with shoulder blades, shards, and palm bases, filled with hadith.” (“Tambourines’ skins” are the skins used for drums.) (“Palm bases” are the thick, wide bases of palm fronds, one is called a base.) (“Camel shoulder blades” are wide bones behind the shoulder.) (“Large jars” is the plural of a large jar.) (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/284.)

He also said: “I sought this matter while having little wealth. I used to sit with people and memorise, then I wished to write. We had a home near Shiʿb al Khayf, and I used to take bones and shoulder blades and write on them, until our house was filled with 2 large jars of that.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 25.)

Because of his poverty, a relative of his advised him to earn and leave knowledge for the moment, not to rush to it. Al Shafiʿi said: “I came to Makkah while I was 10 years old, or close to that, and I went to a relative of mine.

He saw me seeking knowledge and said to me: ‘Do not rush this. Take what benefits you’, meaning earning. I made my joy in knowledge and seeking it until Allah provided what He provided.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 50.)

This is the second stage of his learning in Makkah: he began to listen to knowledge in al Masjid al Haram from the mouths of ulama, memorise it, and write from it what filled jars with bones and palm bases and the used sheets of records, before he reached puberty.

In this stage he memorised al Muwattaʾ of Imam Malik before he went to him. Al Muzani narrated from al Shafiʿi that he said: “I memorised the Qurʾan while I was 7, and I memorised al Muwattaʾ while I was 10.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 50.)

In this early period, he was drawn to taking Arabic quickly and listening to it from the mouths of the Bedouins, because in Arabic and its clarity is a young man’s beauty, the growth of his mind, the fine nature of his sense, and his ability to debate. Greater than all of that is gaining the ability by which he can understand the speech of Allah and the speech of His Messenger ﷺ.

Al Shafiʿi said: “I went out seeking grammar and manners, and Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji met me and said: ‘Young man, where are you from?’

I said: ‘From the people of Makkah.’ He said: ‘Where is your home?’

I said: ‘In Shiʿb al Khayf.’ He said: ‘From which tribe are you?’

I said: ‘From ʿAbd Manaf.’ He said: ‘Excellent. Allah has honoured you in the universe and in the Hereafter. Will you not place your understanding in this fiqh, for that would be better for you?’” (Al Majmuʿ 1/15.) (Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji was Shaykh al Masjid al Haram in Makkah, Abu Khalid al Makhzumi by allegiance. He was a faqih and a worshipper. Yahya ibn Maʿin said: “There is no harm in him.” Ibrahim al Harbi said: “He was the faqih of Makkah.” He died in the year 180.)

There are many reports about why he turned away from poetry and manners to fiqh. From them is what al Husayn al Karabisī narrated. (His biography will come later in the main section.) He said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I was a man who wrote poetry, and I would go to the deserts and listen from them. I came to Makkah, and I went out while I was reciting poetry by Labid, and I was striking the right side of my foot with the whip. A man struck me from behind, from the doorkeepers.

A man from Quraysh then said: ‘A man from Banu al Muttalib is content, in his religion and his universe, to be only a teacher. What is poetry. Poetry, if it becomes firm in you, will leave you sitting as a teacher. Study fiqh, Allah will benefit you.’ I said: ‘Allah benefited me by the words of that doorkeeper.’

I returned to Makkah and wrote from Ibn ʿUyaynah what Allah willed, then I used to sit with Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji.” (Sifat al Safwah 2/140.) (“The doorkeeper” is the attribution to the keepers of the sanctuary of the Sacred House.)

From them is what Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah al Zubayri narrated: the reason he took to knowledge was that one day he was riding a riding animal, and behind him was a scribe of his father.

Al Shafiʿi recited a line of poetry, so his father’s scribe struck him with his whip and said to him: “Someone like you wastes his honour in this. Where are you from fiqh.” That shook him, so he began to sit with Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji, who was the mufti of Makkah, then he came to us and stayed with Malik ibn Anas. (Al Majmuʿ 1/15.) (Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Musʿab ibn Thabit ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al Zubayr was an authority in lineage, with wide knowledge of history. He was the most well mannered of Quraysh, in honour, knowledge, and status. He was trusted in hadith and a poet. He was born in al Madinah, lived in Baghdad, and died there in the year 236.)

From them is what Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al Humayri narrated from his father. He said: al Shafiʿi used to seek language, Arabic, and poetry, and he often would go to the Bedouins and carry what he had of manners.

One day, while he was in a neighbourhood of the Arabs, a Bedouin came to him and said: “What do you say about a woman who menstruates one day and becomes pure one day?”

He said: “I do not know.” He said: “Nephew, the obligation is more fitting for you than the voluntary.” He said: “I only want this for that. Upon this I have decided, and with Allah is success.” Then he went out to Malik ibn Anas. (Sifat al Safwah 2/141.)

Even if the wording differs, these reports agree that he used to seek poetry and manners, then he turned to fiqh. Most of them state that the first faqih he met and read to was Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji. As for the earlier report of al Karabisī where he said: “I wrote from Ibn ʿUyaynah what Allah willed”, that was in the sanctuary among those who attended Ibn ʿUyaynah’s public lessons.

It is not claimed that his turning to fiqh cut him off completely from Arabic and manners. Rather, it is certain that he never stopped going to the Arab tribes, listening to their pure speech, and memorising their poetry, especially Hudhayl, which was, as he described, the most eloquent of the Arabs, until he reached a level where he became an authority in Arabic, and a teacher even for someone like al Asmaʿi, as will be shown in detail in the discussion of his Arabic and manners.

Al Shafiʿi said: “I memorised the Qurʾan while I was 7 years old, and I read al Muwattaʾ while I was 10 years old, and I stayed among the Arab tribes for 20 years, taking their poetry and their languages. I memorised the Qurʾan, and I did not know that a letter passed me except that I knew its meaning and what was meant by it, except for 2 letters, one of them is: ‘dassaha’.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat. The meaning of “dassaha” is from hiding the self with sin and disobedience.)

He also said: “Then I left Makkah and stayed with Hudhayl in the desert, learning their speech and taking their way, and they were the most eloquent of the Arabs. I stayed among them for 17 years, travelling when they travelled and settling when they settled. When I returned to Makkah I began to recite poetry and mention manners, reports, and the days of the Arabs.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/284.)

So al Shafiʿi, when he devoted himself to fiqh with all his strength, did not neglect Arabic. In this way the different reports can be brought together: some say he turned to fiqh, and some say he turned to Arabic and direct listening to the Arabs.

Whatever the case, he appeared as a brilliant faqih, a skilled interpreter, and an expert in Arabic while still a young man. Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, when something of tafsir or fatwa came to him, would turn to al Shafiʿi and say: “Ask this young man.” (Sifat al Safwah 2/141.) (Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah was the hadith scholar of the sanctuary in Makkah. He was born in al Kufah, lived in Makkah, and died there in the year 198. He was a hafiz, trusted, wide in knowledge, and great in status. Al Shafiʿi said: “If not for Malik and Sufyan, the knowledge of al Hijaz would have gone.”)

The Shaykh of al Masjid al Haram in Makkah, Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji, was the first teacher of al Shafiʿi who gave him permission to give fatwa while he was 15 years old. He said to him: “Give fatwa, Abu ʿAbd Allah, for by Allah it is time for you to give fatwa.” (Wafayat al Aʿyan 1/566.)

When Bishr al Marisi travelled for Hajj, he returned and said to his companions: “I saw a young man from Quraysh in Makkah. I do not fear for our madhhab except from him.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat. Bishr al Marisi is Bishr ibn Ghiyath ibn Abi Karimah, al ʿAdawi by allegiance, a Muʿtazili faqih who knew philosophy. He was the head of the Marisiyyah group who held irjaʾ. He took fiqh from the judge Abu Yusuf and held the view of the Jahmiyyah. He was from Baghdad and died in the year 218.)

This is the second stage of his learning in Makkah: he wrote the hadith of Ibn ʿUyaynah, the hadith scholar of al Masjid al Haram in Makkah, and he took fiqh from the mufti of Makkah, Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji. He also narrated from Saʿid ibn Salim al Qaddah, and Dawud ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al ʿAttar, and ʿAbd al Majid ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Rawwad al Azdi. (Saʿid ibn Salim al Qaddah is Abu ʿUthman al Khurasani, then al Makki. He narrated from Ibn Jurayj. Al Shafiʿi and Yahya ibn Adam narrated from him. Ibn Maʿin said: “There is no harm in him.” Abu Dawud and Ibn ʿAdi said: “Truthful.”) (Dawud ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al ʿAttar is Abu Sulayman al Makki. He narrated from al Qasim ibn Abi Bazzah, ʿAmr ibn Dinar, and others. Al Shafiʿi, Qutaybah, and a group narrated from him. Ibn Maʿin graded him reliable. He died in the year 175.) (ʿAbd al Majid ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz is Abu ʿAbd al Hamid al Makki. He narrated from Ibn Jurayj frequently. Al Humaydi, al Shafiʿi, and many narrated from him. Ahmad and Yahya said: “Reliable, but he goes too far in irjaʾ.” He died in the year 186.)

In this way, he took the Makkan hadith from its most famous shuyukh, and he memorised the Makkan fiqh and knew its foundations, branches, and proofs. Alongside that, as already mentioned, he did not stop taking Arabic from the city and the desert. Along with all of that, he mastered the skills of young manhood, courage, and insight, while still in the prime of youth. Bishr al Marisi said: “I saw in Makkah a young man. If he remains, he will become the man of the universe.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/63.)

Bishr al Marisi performed Hajj, and when he was asked: “Who did you meet in Makkah?” he said: “I saw a man: if he is with you, you will not be overcome, and if he is against you, then prepare and be cautious. He is Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/63.)

It may be that in this period he began teaching people in al Masjid al Haram, when he saw that he had become fully qualified for it. Harmalah said: “I saw al Shafiʿi teaching people in al Masjid al Haram while he was 13 years old.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat. Harmalah is Ibn Yahya ibn ʿAbd Allah al Tujibi, their freedman, al Misri. He was a great imam of high status. He narrated from al Shafiʿi and others, and he was from his companions. He died in the year 243.)

What al Shafiʿi received in Makkah of hadith, fiqh, and Arabic has been mentioned. Some words will now be said about what he practised of the skills of young manhood: skill in archery, insight, and courage, then about his appearance, so that the sides of his life in Makkah can be completed before speaking about his travel to al Madinah, to Malik ibn Anas.

Al Shafiʿi’s Skill in Archery

When al Shafiʿi went out to the desert to hear the speech of the Bedouins, he also learned many skills required by desert life, including archery. He learned it and trained in it until he became one of the most skilled archers, hitting 10 out of 10.

ʿAmr ibn Sawwad said: al Shafiʿi said to me: “My aim was in 2 matters: knowledge and archery. I reached archery until I used to hit 10 out of 10.” In another report: 9 out of 10. (Tawali al Taʾsis 67.) Al Rabiʿ said: al Shafiʿi had complete knowledge of medicine and archery, until he used to hit 10 out of 10. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/65.) (ʿAmr ibn Sawwad ibn al Aswad is Abu Muhammad al Misri. He narrated from Ibn Wahb and al Shafiʿi. Abu Hatim said: “Truthful.” Ibn Yunus said: he died in the year 245.)

Al Shafiʿi’s Horsemanship, Insight, and Courage

“Firasah”, with the opening of the letter fa, means skill in riding horses, handling them, driving them fast, and remaining firm on them, like “furusiyyah”. (Taj al ʿArus, entry: Faras.) This is what al Shafiʿi learned in the desert and practised.

He was a horseman without equal. Al Rabiʿ said: al Shafiʿi was the bravest of people and the most skilled horseman. He would hold his ear and the ear of the horse while the horse was running.

In this way, many ulama of the Salaf would prepare themselves for jihad and guarding the frontiers for the sake of Allah, following Allah’s command:

وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ الْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ

Prepare against them whatever strength you can, and war horses, by which you frighten the enemy of Allah and your enemy. (al Anfal 60)

His guarding the frontier in Alexandria in his life in Egypt will be mentioned later.

This shows that the taqwa of the Salaf was not by giving words of advice to people and urging them towards goodness, while they themselves had no share of what they urged. Rather, their taqwa was, first, deep belief in what they said, and rushing before others to every virtue and noble act, with purity, waraʿ, and staying away from doubtful matters.

The Appearance of al Shafiʿi and His Household

His Appearance

Ibn al Salah said: he was tall, with long cheeks, little flesh in the face, long neck, long limbs, dark skinned, light in the sides of his beard. He dyed his beard with henna a deep red. He had a good voice and manner, a great mind, a handsome face, and a strong presence.

He was eloquent, and from the most well mannered of people in speech. If he stuck out his tongue it reached the tip of his nose. He was often ill. It is also transmitted that he had a long nose tip. He had a mark of smallpox on his nose, visible on the area beneath the lower lip, his eyebrows were not joined, and his teeth had gaps. (Ibn al Salah is ʿUthman ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Shahrzuri, al Kurdi, from the leading imams in tafsir, hadith, fiqh, and names of men. Al Malik al Ashraf appointed him to teach in Dar al Hadith, and he died there in the year 643. Shaykh Taqi al Din ibn al Salah authored a short work on the appearance of al Shafiʿi, and it was printed in Damascus.)

Al Bayhaqi narrated from Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla. He said: al Shafiʿi was of balanced height, with a clear forehead, thin skin, his colour tending to darkness, and light in the sides of his beard.

In al Wafi by al Safadi: al Shafiʿi was thin and light in the sides of his beard, and he dyed with henna.

Al Muzani said: “I did not see a face more handsome than al Shafiʿi. If he held his beard, it did not extend beyond his hold.” (Shadharat al Dhahab 2/9.)

The Beauty of His Voice

Al Shafiʿi was known for the beauty of his voice in speech and the moving sound of his recitation. He would sometimes make people weep and stir their sorrow. Bahr ibn Nasr said: “When we wanted to cry, some of us would say to the others: ‘Let us go to this young man of Banu al Muttalib reciting the Qurʾan.’

When we reached him, he would begin the Qurʾan until people would fall, and their loud crying would increase because of the beauty of his voice. When he saw that, he would stop reciting.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat 2/172.) (Bahr ibn Nasr was among those who studied fiqh under al Shafiʿi in Egypt. Many narrated from him. Ibn Abi Hatim and others graded him reliable. He died in the year 267.)

Ahmad said: “When al Shafiʿi spoke, it was as if his voice was a bell, from the beauty of his voice.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat 2/173.)

His Clothing, His Ring, and Its Inscription

Al Rabiʿ was asked: “How was al Shafiʿi’s clothing?” He said: he was moderate in it. He wore fine garments of linen and Baghdad cotton. He might wear a cap that was not very high. He often wore the turban and leather socks.

In al Intiqaʾ: he would wrap a large turban as if he were a Bedouin. (Al Intiqaʾ 92.)

As for his ring, al Rabiʿ said: al Shafiʿi used to wear his ring on his left hand, and the inscription on his ring was: “Allah is sufficient as a trust for Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/65.)

In the report of Ibn Abi Hatim al Razi: “By Allah, a trust for Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 276.)

His Household

By his household is meant his wife, his children, his male slaves, his female slaves, and his servants.

It is not known when he married. It is not far to estimate that his marriage was close to the time he returned from Malik to Makkah. Only one wife is known for him, and she was Hamdah bint Nafiʿ ibn ʿAnbasah ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan. (Al Intiqaʾ 68.) She was the mother of his child, as Ahmad ibn Muhammad, the grandson of al Shafiʿi through his daughter, reported.

As for his children, it is agreed that he had 2 sons.

The older of them was Muhammad, Abu ʿUthman. It was also said that his name was ʿUthman. When al Shafiʿi was asked: “What is the name of Abu ʿUthman?” he said: “I named him with the most beloved names to me, Muhammad.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/72.)

Ibn Hazm named him ʿUthman. He heard from his father, Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, ʿAbd al Razzaq, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/71.)

He became judge over al Jazirah and its districts. He narrated hadith there, and the people of al Jazirah narrated from him. He also became judge in Aleppo and stayed there for many years. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/71–72.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to him: “I love you for 3 reasons: that you are the son of Abu ʿAbd Allah, that you are a man from Quraysh, and that you are from the people of the Sunnah.” He had a debate with Ahmad ibn Hanbal about the hides of dead animals when tanned. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/71–72.)

He is the one whom his father blamed and advised: “My son, by Allah, if I knew that cold water would chip away at my honour, I would not drink it except hot.” When his father passed away, he was grown and living in Makkah. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/71–72.)

Abu ʿUthman had 3 children: among them al ʿAbbas ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Idris, and Abu al Hasan who died as an infant, and Fatimah who had no children. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/72.) Ibn Hazm said: he had no children. (Jamharat Ansab al ʿArab 73.) Al Khatib al Baghdadi said that he died in al Jazirah after the year 240, and this is also in Muʿjam al Udabaʾ. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/323.)

As for the second son of al Shafiʿi, his name was also Muhammad, and his kunyah was Abu al Hasan. He was from a slave woman named Dananir. Ibn Yunus mentioned that he came to Egypt with his father while still small, and he died there in Shaʿban of the year 231. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/73.) Ibn Hazm said: he became judge over Qinnasrin and al ʿAwasim, and he had no children. (Jamharat Ansab al ʿArab 73.)

A single daughter is known for al Shafiʿi, and her name was Zaynab. She married a cousin of al Shafiʿi named Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman ibn Shafiʿ.

She gave birth to a son named Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah, known as Ibn Bint al Shafiʿi. Al Nawawi said: he was an outstanding imam. There was none in the family of al Shafiʿi after al Shafiʿi like him. The blessing of his grandfather reached him. (Al Tabaqat al Kubra 2/186.)

Al Shafiʿi also had a Slavic boy, called Itraq. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 277.)

He also had eunuchs. When one of them reached puberty, he would not allow him to go up to the women. He would buy another in his place to go up to them. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 272.)

It was mentioned earlier that he took a slave woman named Dananir, and it was said that his son Abu al Hasan was from her.

His Journey to al Madinah

Al Shafiʿi Looked Towards al Madinah After Taking In the Knowledge of Makkah

Al Shafiʿi took in most of the knowledge in Makkah. He took from Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji (d. 180 AH), Shaykh of the Haram and the Mufti of Makkah, and others. He narrated from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH) and others, the knowledge of Makkah. He learned in the Makkan Haram, and he was given permission to give fatwa at an early age. People testified to his skill and ability. So, would someone with knowledge be satisfied with becoming a Makkan faqih limited to the Makkan approach, or would he desire more than that.

Anyone who knows al Shafiʿi’s thirst for knowledge realises that it would not be quenched until he travelled to al Madinah, to take from Imam Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH), the Imam of Dar al Hijrah, and the inheritor of the 7 fuqaha. Al Nawawi (d. 676 AH) said: “When al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, took to fiqh, and attained from Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji and the imams of Makkah what he attained, he travelled to al Madinah, intending to take from Abu ʿAbd Allah Malik ibn Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, and his journey is well known, and it has a compiled report that is heard.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/47.)

The People of al Madinah Were the Most Knowledgeable of the Sunnah and the Actions of the Sahabah

Al Madinah at that time was the greatest land in preserving the original Islamic character. Most of the Sahabah were in al Madinah, because after the Prophet ﷺ returned from Hunayn, he left there around 12000 Sahabah. About 10000 remained there, then they died there, while about 2000 spread across the other regions. (Tartib al Madarik 1/66–67.)

Because of that, the people of al Madinah were the most knowledgeable of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the most informed of his words and actions.

For this reason, Rabiʿah al Raʾy (d. 136 AH), the shaykh of Malik, used to say: “A thousand from a thousand is more beloved to me than one from one, because one from one pulls the Sunnah out of your hands.” (Rabiʿah al Raʾy is Rabiʿah ibn Farrukh, al Taymi by allegiance, al Madani, Abu ʿUthman, an imam, hafiz, faqih, and mujtahid. He had sharp sight in opinion, meaning qiyas. He was the one who held fatwa in al Madinah, and Imam Malik studied fiqh with him. He died in 136 AH.) (Tartib al Madarik 1/66–67.)

This is an indication towards what is called “the practice of the people of al Madinah”. Rabiʿah used to take it when he found them upon an agreed matter, then Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, relied upon it.

The ulama of al Madinah used to view that when hadith moved far from al Hijaz it became open to fabrication or increase. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say: “When the hadith passes beyond the 2 Harrahs, its courage weakens.”

He used to call al Kufah “the house of minting”, meaning that it produces hadith as the mint produces dinars and dirhams. Ibn Shihab al Zuhri (d. 124 AH) used to say: “The hadith leaves us a handspan, then it returns from Iraq an armspan.”

The knowledge of a scholar across the lands of the Islamic khilafah was not fully trusted until he travelled to al Madinah, went repeatedly to its ulama, and narrated from its huffaz. That is why ulama, fuqaha, and hadith scholars would travel to it, presenting what they knew, correcting it, and increasing in knowledge. From the most prominent of them was Imam al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH).

His Journey as He Told It Himself, and His Age at That Time

His journey to al Madinah has a famous, pleasant story which shows the greatness of knowledge and the ulama. Al Shafiʿi himself, as it is transmitted from him, narrated it and said:

“Then I left Makkah, and I stayed with Hudhayl in the desert, learning their speech and taking their way, and they were the most eloquent of the Arabs. I remained among them for seventeen years, travelling when they travelled and settling when they settled. When I returned to Makkah, I began to recite poetry and mention manners, reports, and the days of the Arabs.

A man from the Zubayris, from my paternal relatives, passed by me and said: ‘Abu ʿAbd Allah, it pains me that with this language, this eloquence, and this sharpness, there is no fiqh, so that you would have blocked the people of your time.’

I said: ‘So, to whom do you point me.’ He said to me: ‘Malik ibn Anas, the master of the Muslims at that time.’ So it fell into my heart. I went to al Muwatta, and I borrowed it from a man in Makkah, then I memorised it openly in nine nights. Then I entered upon the governor of Makkah, and I took his letter to the governor of al Madinah, and to Malik ibn Anas.

I arrived in al Madinah and I delivered the letter to the governor. When he read it he said: ‘Young man, my walking from the middle of al Madinah to the middle of Makkah barefoot, on foot, is easier upon me than walking to the door of Malik ibn Anas. I do not see humiliation for myself until I stand at his door.’

I said: ‘May Allah set the amir right. If the amir sees fit, he can send to him so he attends.’ He said: ‘How far. If only I, and those with me, when we ride, we would be struck by some dust of al ʿAqiq, and we would have achieved some of our need.’

He set an appointment with me for the afternoon, and we rode together.

By Allah, it was as he said, the dust of al ʿAqiq struck us. A man went ahead and knocked at the door. A black slave girl came out to us. The amir said to her: ‘Tell your master that I am at the door.’” (As you can see, the amirs were at the doors of the ulama, not the ulama at the doors of the amirs. It is narrated that al Rashid sent to Malik for him to come and narrate to him, so Malik said: “Knowledge is to be approached.” So al Rashid went to his house and leaned against the wall. Malik said: “Commander of the Believers, from honouring the Messenger is honouring knowledge.” So he sat before him, and Malik narrated to him.)

Al Shafiʿi continued:

“She went in, and she was slow, then she came out and said: ‘My master sends you peace and says: if it is a legal question, then write it on a sheet, and the answer will come out to you. If it is for hadith, then you know the day of the gathering.’ So he left. The amir said to her: ‘Tell him: I have with me a letter from the governor of Makkah to him, about an important need.’

She went in and came out with a chair in her hand and placed it. Then I saw Malik come out, with awe and dignity upon him. He was a tall shaykh, well formed in beard. He sat, wearing a taylasan. The governor raised the letter to him. When it reached the words: ‘This is a man whose matter and state’, speak to him, do such and such, and so on, he threw the letter from his hand and said: ‘Subhan Allah.

Has the knowledge of the Messenger become something taken by letters.’ I saw the governor fear him, and not dare to speak to him. I stepped forward and said: ‘May Allah set you right. I am a man from al Muttalib, and my state and my story’, and so on. When he heard my speech, he looked at me for a while, and Malik had insight.

He said to me: ‘What is your name.’ I said: ‘Muhammad.’ He said to me: ‘Muhammad, fear Allah and avoid disobedience, for you will have a matter of great matter.’ Then he said: ‘Yes, and honour. When tomorrow comes, you come, and someone will come to read for you.’ I said: ‘I will do the reading.’

I came early to him, and I began to read it openly, while the book was in my hand. Whenever I feared Malik and wanted to stop, the beauty of my reading and my grammar pleased him, and he would say: ‘Young man, continue.’

Until I read it in a small number of days. Then I remained in al Madinah until Malik ibn Anas passed away.”

It is noticed that the opening of this story, or something close to it, was already mentioned about why he intended Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji, the Mufti of Makkah. It may have happened twice, and with a Zubayri man.

It is also noticed that the age of al Shafiʿi, by this report, when he travelled to Malik, was around twenty seven years, because he remained in the desert for seventeen years, and his age would not be less than ten at that time.

Most reports, and the most reliable of them, opposed this report in both observations. They did not mention that he stayed with Hudhayl for seventeen years as part of his going to Malik, and they agreed in fixing his age at thirteen years.

Whether this fixing is exact or not, it is certain that al Shafiʿi was a young man when he went to Malik, not exceeding sixteen years. ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi (d. 198 AH) said: I heard Malik say: “No Qurashi comes to me who understands more than this young man.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 54.) Malik said to him once: “If anyone will succeed, it is this boy.” (Wafayat al Aʿyan 1/566.) The words “young man” and “boy”, even if shuyukh say them about their students, still indicate the smallness of his age, especially when the reports support it.

It is thought that fixing al Shafiʿi’s age at thirteen when he travelled to Malik is not exact, even with many reports stating it, for 2 reasons.

The first is that it is far at this age that he would take what is in Makkah of knowledge, fiqh, and hadith, and fill from that 2 great jars with bones, palm bases, and skins, and then go to the desert and take its poetry and manners.

The second is that his shaykh in Makkah, when he permitted him to give fatwa, his age was, on the lowest report, fifteen years. Some say twenty years. All of that was before his going to Malik. So how can this be brought together.

His Seeking Knowledge From Imam Malik, and Other Shuyukh of al Madinah

In any case, al Shafiʿi reached al Madinah, while still a young man, intending Imam Malik. He had poverty that Allah knows best, but his firm will overcame his poverty, and his craving for knowledge crushed his need.

Imam Malik accepted him, after he sought means to him through the amir of al Madinah and through his shaykh, Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanji, when al Shafiʿi asked him to write to Malik and recommend him. So he wrote to him, and Malik read it.

Al Shafiʿi sat with his shaykh, Imam Malik, and began to read to him. The Imam feared that the young al Shafiʿi might not read the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ well, so he asked him to bring someone to read al Muwatta for him.

But al Shafiʿi had prepared for this great meeting with Imam Malik, so he memorised al Muwatta and mastered it, along with his known eloquence and clarity. So he said to Imam Malik: “I will read it openly.” When he began reading, his reading pleased him. If he wanted to stop out of awe of him, Malik would draw him forward by saying: “By Allah, young man, continue,” until he read al Muwatta to him in a small number of days.

Al Shafiʿi said: “Then I remained in al Madinah until Malik ibn Anas passed away.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/287.)

Meaning, the year 179 AH. Al Shafiʿi’s age was twenty nine years. The meaning of this is that he remained in al Madinah more than ten years. It is clear that he did not take from Malik only al Muwatta, because he read it from memory in a small number of days. Rather, he took everything Malik had of hadith, fiqh, ijtihad, transmitted reports, and fatwas from the Sahabah and the Tabiʿin, and he took from him what he built upon the practice of the people of al Madinah.

Did al Shafiʿi, with this long stay in al Madinah, remaining patient upon little wealth and poverty, suffice with what he took from Imam Malik, or did he take from other shuyukh as well.

The verified matter is that he did not leave any shaykh of the shuyukh of al Madinah except that he took from him and gathered his knowledge. Al Zubayr ibn Bakkar (d. 256 AH) narrated from his uncle Musʿab ibn al Zubayr ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al Zubayr, in the story of al Shafiʿi and his going to Malik.

He said: “He did not leave with Malik ibn Anas except the least, and he did not leave with any shaykh of the shuyukh of al Madinah except that he gathered it.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/283.)

The meaning of that is that he encompassed the knowledge of al Hijaz. It is enough for him that he took from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah in Makkah and from Malik in al Madinah. Al Shafiʿi used to say: “If not for Malik and Sufyan, the knowledge of al Hijaz would have gone.” He used to say: “Malik and Sufyan are 2 equals in the chain of al Hijaz.”

His Trust in the Knowledge of the People of al Madinah, and Malik’s Effect Upon Him

There is no doubt that the knowledge of al Madinah, and especially the knowledge of Malik, filled al Shafiʿi with knowledge, certainty, and understanding. He saw in it the brightness of truth and the strength of proof.

Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla (d. 264 AH) said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I only intend to advise you with what I found my earlier people of al Madinah upon, so do not let doubt enter your heart that it is the truth.” Yunus said: By Allah, this was his instruction to me. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 196.)

He used to be proud of being linked to them, and he would say: “If I say: ‘Some of our companions said’, then they are the people of al Madinah. If I say: ‘Some people said’, then they are the people of Iraq.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 196.)

As for Imam Malik, he was, in al Shafiʿi’s view, “the star”. Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla narrated that al Shafiʿi said: “When the report comes, then Malik is the star.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 196.)

He used to say: “When hadith comes from Malik, then hold tightly to it.” He said about Malik’s book al Muwatta: “There is no book of knowledge on earth more correct than Malik’s Muwatta.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 196.) Harmalah (d. 243 AH) said: al Shafiʿi would not place anyone before Malik in hadith at all. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 200.)

Al Shafiʿi remained loyal to his shaykh Malik all his life, to the point that no one could attack him in his presence even with a single word. He once stopped Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), with proof, when he wanted to speak against Malik.

Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: I heard al Shafiʿi say:

“I said to Muhammad ibn al Hasan one day, and he mentioned Malik and Abu Hanifah. Muhammad ibn al Hasan said to me: ‘Our companion should not have stayed silent’, meaning Abu Hanifah, ‘and your companion should not have given fatwa’, meaning Malik.

I said: ‘I ask you by Allah, do you know that our companion, meaning Malik, was knowledgeable of the Book of Allah.’

He said: ‘By Allah, yes.’

I said: ‘I ask you by Allah, do you know that our companion was knowledgeable of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’ He said: ‘By Allah, yes.’ I said: ‘Was he knowledgeable of the differences of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’ He said: ‘Yes.’

I said: ‘Was he intelligent.’

He said: ‘No.’

I said: ‘I ask you by Allah, do you know that your companion, meaning Abu Hanifah, was ignorant of the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.’

He said: ‘Yes.’

I said: ‘And ignorant of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and ignorant of the differences of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’ He said: ‘Yes.’

I said: ‘Was he intelligent.’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘So, 3 qualities gather in our companion, without which fatwa is not sound, and he lacks one.

Your companion lacks 3, and has one. So you say: your companion should not speak, and our companion should not stay silent.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 201.)

(Muhammad ibn al Hasan did not mean by denying intelligence from Imam Malik, far removed is this, while he knows that someone who produced this knowledge, fiqh, and ijtihad for people must be from the most intelligent of the intelligent. He may have meant that he does not use his own view in the presence of a clear text.)

(Far removed is it that Imam Abu Hanifah was ignorant of the Book of Allah, while he filled the universe with fiqh and knowledge, rather people in fiqh are dependants upon him, as Imam al Shafiʿi himself said. Perhaps al Shafiʿi only meant that he did not reach, in explanation and understanding of the Book of Allah, the level of the greatest imams who are the proof in its understanding and explanation, and Allah knows best.)

Al Shafiʿi trusted, with full trust, the prophetic hadith which the ulama of the 2 Harams narrated, especially Malik. He viewed that hadith weakens if it passes beyond the 2 Harams, or if it has no recognised origin in al Madinah or Makkah.

He said: “When hadith passes beyond the 2 Harams, its marrow weakens.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 200.)

In Lisan al ʿArab: the marrow, with the first letter having 3 possible vowel forms, is a white nerve within the neck, running in the spine until it reaches the tailbone, and it nourishes the bones.

He said: “If the chain, from the hadith of Iraq, was at the highest level of soundness, then I did not find for it an origin with us, meaning in al Madinah and Makkah, in any form, then I would not give attention to that hadith, whatever its soundness.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 200.)

He said about Malik’s carefulness in the soundness of the chain: “When Malik doubted, he did not proceed. He only descends in hadith. If the chain was connected, he only descends one level.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 200.)

Meaning: if he doubts the higher shaykh, he leaves narrating from him and narrates from the nearer shaykh, being content with him. So he only narrates from the reliable, as Ibn ʿUyaynah said.

He said: “When Malik doubted in some of the hadith, he would drop all of it.” He said: “It was said to Malik ibn Anas: Ibn ʿUyaynah has from al Zuhri things that you do not have. Malik said: ‘Do I narrate everything I hear of hadith. If so, then I want to wrong them.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibih 199.)

Four Strange Matters al Shafiʿi Saw in al Madinah

Al Shafiʿi benefited from his stay in al Madinah in that time, beyond knowledge, with large religious and social benefits. He learned the states of people and their dealings in their lives and their return, and he saw strange matters.

What is narrated from him in that is what al Muzani (d. 264 AH) narrated. He said: I heard al Shafiʿi say:

“I saw in al Madinah 4 strange matters. I saw a grandmother who was 21 years old. I saw a man whom the judge declared bankrupt in a debtor situation involving date stones. I saw a shaykh whom ninety years had passed over, and he would spend his daytime walking barefoot, on foot, going to the singing slave girls teaching them singing. When prayer came, he prayed sitting, and he was in al Madinah, and he was a righteous man.

He said: ‘Why do I not see people gathering at my door as they gather at the doors of the governors.’ They said: ‘Because you do not strike anyone and you do not harm people.’ He said: ‘Is it like this. Bring me the imam.’

He set him between 2 wooden beams, and began striking him, while the imam was saying: ‘May Allah honour the amir, what is my crime.’ He said: ‘We carried people by your own self,’ until people gathered at his door.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ 17/317.)

His Return to Makkah

Al Shafiʿi, during his stay in al Madinah, used to return from time to time to Makkah, his upbringing, and the land of his forefathers. There was his intelligent mother, who did not stop advising him and improving his direction, and there were his shuyukh whom he honoured and did not forget their favour upon him.

He came once to Makkah and sought, through some of his relatives from the Talibiyyin, that they give him from the universe what would fill his need. He was shocked by their resentment towards him for leaving the approach of the people of Makkah and taking from Malik.

Al Shafiʿi said in a report: “I came to Musʿab al Zubayri, and I asked him to speak to some of our family, meaning from the Talibiyyin, so they would give me something from the universe, because I had poverty that Allah knows best.

He spoke to him, and he said: ‘You speak to me about a man who was from us, then opposed us and went to others.’ He criticised him for taking from Malik. He gave me 100 dinars.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah 2/121.)

He came another time to Makkah, and some Qurashis sought for him with a governor over Yemen, who came to Makkah, that he take him with him to Yemen, perhaps he would find him work. So he prepared in it to go to Yemen.

His Journey to Yemen

The Reason for This Journey

Al Humaydi (d. 219 AH) narrated from al Shafiʿi the story of his going to Yemen. He said:

“A governor over Yemen came, meaning from Makkah, and some Qurashis spoke to him that I accompany him. My mother did not have what she could give me to make myself presentable, so I mortgaged a house, and I travelled with him. When we reached there, he arranged for me a position, I was praised in it, and he increased me.” (The governor was Hammad al Barbari.) (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.)

From al Karabisī: al Shafiʿi said: Musʿab said to me: “Harun al Rashid has written to me to go to Yemen as a judge. Will you go out with us.

Perhaps Allah will replace for you what that man used to replace for you,” meaning the Talibi relative who gave him 100 dinars and criticised him for going to Malik. It was pointed to earlier. He said: “So he went out as a judge over Yemen, and I went out with him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.)

In these 2 reports there is difference. What al Humaydi narrated indicates that he accompanied a governor over Yemen when he came to Makkah and returned to Yemen. The report of al Karabisī shows that he went out with Musʿab ibn al Zubayr when al Rashid appointed him to the judgeship of Yemen. Which of the 2 happened.

It is possible that both reports are correct if it is understood that by his words “some Qurashis” in the first report he meant Musʿab, which is clearly stated in the second report, and that they all went out together to Yemen, the governor, and the judge Musʿab al Zubayri, taking al Shafiʿi with them.

His Work, His Rising Status, and the Governor’s Plotting Against Him

It appears that, with what was known of him in Makkah first and in al Madinah second, of knowledge and protection, he did not take at the beginning except a small position. It was said that he was employed in one of the administrative services in Yemen. (Al Muhammadiyyun lil Qifti 137.)

Perhaps this service was linked to the judiciary, the place of his understanding and skill. Whatever this position was, he exerted effort in it and was praised, and he became known among people. So the governor increased him in his position. The words of al Shafiʿi just mentioned apply: “When we reached, he arranged for me a position, I was praised in it, and he increased me.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.)

The one who is upright does not neglect the interests of people if he is placed over them, rather he stands with what his trust requires and what his din demands. In this way al Shafiʿi became known until his fame passed Yemen to Makkah. When people came in Rajab, meaning to Makkah, their tongues spoke praise of al Shafiʿi. Al Shafiʿi said: “People came in Rajab, meaning to Makkah, and they came upon me, so my mention spread.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.) Meaning: they mentioned him with praise.

Even his shaykh Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, the hadith scholar of Makkah, welcomed him when he met him and said: “The goodness of what has spread about you has reached me. You have not carried out everything that Allah is upon you. Do not return.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.)

This was Sufyan’s view, that he should not return to work. This was also the view of his Makkan shaykh Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya (d. 184 AH). He blamed him for entering into work. Al Shafiʿi said: “The admonition of Ibn ʿUyaynah was more beneficial for me.” (Tawali al Taʾsis 69.) Because it was said with gentleness, wisdom, and love.

Even though need drove al Shafiʿi to work, his 2 shuyukh held him too great to take a position that might reduce his din and waraʿ, and cut into his honour and nobility. They also saw in his mind, knowledge, and sharpness, and they expected that he would be an imam from the strongest imams of the Muslims.

That is what pushed them to urge him to leave work, while noticing that what people awaited from him, of benefit in their din and the Sharia of their Prophet ﷺ, is more fitting than his striving to fill his own need.

Al Shafiʿi said:

“Then I was appointed over Najran. In it were Banu al Harith ibn ʿAbd al Madan, and the clients of Thaqif. The governor, when he went to them, they would try to win him over, and they wanted me on something similar, but they did not find that with me. Many people complained to me.

I gathered them and said: ‘Gather for me seven men. The one whose fairness they grade fair is fair, and the one whose fairness they grade harmed is harmed.’ I sat and I ordered the disputing parties to be brought. I seated the seven around me. When the witness testified, I would turn to them. I acted upon their grading, or their harming.

I continued until I reached all the wrongs. When I finished, I began to judge and record. When they saw that, they said: ‘These estates are not ours.

They belong to Mansur ibn al Mahdi.’ I said to the scribe: ‘Write. The mentioned people admitted that the estate which I judged against him is not his, rather it is for Mansur. Mansur remains upon his proof in it, if he has it.’ They gathered and went out to Makkah and worked against me, until I was carried to Iraq,” and so on.

So what is this appointment over Najran. It may be a normal appointment over a part of Yemen. Al Nawawi said: “Then he was appointed in Yemen, and many well known matters spread from the goodness of his conduct, and his carrying people upon the Sunnah and the good ways.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wal Lughat 1/47.)

It may be that the intended meaning of this appointment was the judgeship, because his work in it is the work of a judge.

Whatever this appointment was, it became the cause of the trial of al Shafiʿi, and it is the price of honour and din, carried by the one who prefers justice, and holds people equal in it, seeking Allah’s pleasure, and not caring for people’s anger.

The people of influence tried to win al Shafiʿi over, as they were used to doing with those who hold authority over them, but they did not succeed. They did not find in him a response to their temptation and pulling.

He directed all his strength to establishing justice and removing falsehood. So they agreed together, and they informed against him to the ruler with an ugly informing that almost destroyed him, if not for Allah’s protection.

There is another report in which al Shafiʿi said:

“Then I went out to Yemen and my standing rose there. There was a governor there from before al Rashid. He was unjust and harsh. I would sometimes take his hands and prevent him from injustice.

The governor wrote to the khalifah saying: ‘Some people from the ʿAlawiyyah, from the descendants of ʿAli, have moved, and I fear they will rise. Here there is a man from the descendants of Shafiʿ, al Muttalibi, and I have no power with him, neither command nor prohibition.’”

He said: “Harun wrote to him to carry these people, and carry al Shafiʿi with them. So I was tied with them. When we arrived to Harun al Rashid, he brought us in, and Muhammad ibn al Hasan was with him. Harun called for the leather mat and the sword, and the necks of the ʿAlawiyyah were struck.

Then Muhammad ibn al Hasan said: ‘Commander of the Believers, do not let this Muttalibi overcome you with his eloquence. He is a sharp tongued man.’ I said: ‘Be gentle, Commander of the Believers. You are the caller and I am the one called. You are able to do what you want from me. I am not able to do what I want from you.

Commander of the Believers, what do you say about 2 men, one of them sees me as his brother, and the other sees me as his slave. Which of them is more beloved to me.’ He said: ‘The one who sees you as his brother.’

I said: ‘That is you, Commander of the Believers.’ He said: ‘How is that.’ I said: ‘Commander of the Believers, you are the children of al ʿAbbas, they are the children of ʿAli, and we are the children of al Muttalib.

You, the children of al ʿAbbas, see us as your brothers, and they see us as their slaves.’ So what was with him eased,” and so on.

(The governor was Hammad al Barbari who al Rashid appointed over Makkah and Yemen in 184 AH, which was the same year in which al Shafiʿi took a position in Yemen, by bad fortune.)

There is difference between the 2 reports, connected to difference in the origin of the report. In the first: “They gathered and went out to Makkah and worked against me.”

In the second: “The governor wrote to the khalifah saying: some people,” and so on, until: “and here there is a man from the descendants of Shafiʿ al Muttalibi.”

It is possible to bring the 2 together by saying that the plotters were many, from those whose injustice al Shafiʿi restrained, and that the one who carried out their plot was the governor who feared for himself and his authority from al Shafiʿi.

Whatever the differences in the reports about the causes of the trial, they all agree that the people plotted against him and intended evil for him because he established justice, returned rights to their owners, and restrained the hands of aggressors. So al Shafiʿi was carried to Baghdad, the capital of the khilafah, with the accusation of rising against the state with some ʿAlawiyyah who were always accused of that.

He Was Taken to Iraq While Accused

He Was Taken to Iraq and Sought Knowledge While at the Caliph’s Door

In 184 AH, al Shafiʿi was taken to Iraq unwillingly, not by choice. Hammad al Barbari, the governor of Makkah and Yemen, put him in iron chains, accusing him of rebellion against the state. When he reached Baghdad, he was told, “Stay at the door.”

Al Shafiʿi said, “I looked, and I saw that I had no choice but to keep going to some of those people. Muhammad ibn al Hasan held a strong position, so I kept going to him, and I said, ‘This is closer to the path of knowledge for me,’ so I stayed with him, wrote down his books, and learned their views. When he would stand up, I would debate his companions.”

Al Shafiʿi seized this opening, the opening of remaining at the caliph’s door, meaning that he stayed in Baghdad while waiting for a decision about him. He turned to gathering knowledge, and he learned what was new to him from the approaches of the people of opinion. What he had with him of spending money ran out, because he spent it on the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan.

What patience is this, and what trust in Allah is this? A man accused with a charge that could lead to execution, his provisions finished, waiting at the caliph’s door for what Allah would decree about him, yet he still opened his heart to knowledge and went to increase in it. He wrote the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan, learned their positions, and debated his companions.

Al Shafiʿi said, “I carried from Muhammad ibn al Hasan a load like the load of a bukhti camel, and it was nothing except what I heard.” (The bukht is a type of camel; the singular is bukhti.) He also said, “I spent sixty dinars on the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan, then I studied them carefully, and I placed next to every issue a hadith,” meaning a reply against him.

His Appearance Before the Caliph and His Deliverance From Execution

Through his truthfulness, patience, knowledge, innocence, clear speech, and steadiness, Allah relieved him from his trial. Al Shafiʿi spoke about this frightening period and said, “I came one day and sat with him,” meaning Muhammad ibn al Hasan, “while I was among the people with the most worry and grief because of the anger of the Commander of the Believers, and my provisions had finished.

When I sat, Muhammad began attacking the people of Madinah, so I said, ‘If you attack the town, then it is the place of the Prophet’s ﷺ migration and the landing place of revelation. If you attack its people, then they are Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, and the Emigrants and the Helpers.’ He said, ‘Allah forbid that I attack them. I only attack one of their legal rulings,’ and he mentioned the issue of a witness and an oath, and he mentioned his discussion with him about it, and many discussions.

Then a man behind me was writing down my words, while I did not know. He took it to Harun al Rashid, and read it to him. Hurthamah ibn Aʿyan said, ‘Al Rashid was reclining, then he sat upright and said, “Repeat it,” so he repeated it to him. Then he said, “Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Learn from Quraysh, and do not teach them. Put Quraysh forward and do not put them behind.”’ Then he said, ‘How can it be denied that Muhammad ibn Idris is more knowledgeable than Muhammad ibn al Hasan?’

So he was pleased with me, and he ordered five hundred dinars for me. Hurthamah came out and said to me, ‘He has ordered five hundred dinars for you, and we added the same amount to it.’ By Allah, I had never possessed one thousand dinars before that.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 70.) This is the report of Abu Nuʿaym. (Abu Nuʿaym was Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Isfahani, a reliable preserver and historian. He was born and died in Isfahan in 430 AH.)

Al Saji narrated with his chain to al Shafiʿi that he said, “Al Barbari wrote to al Rashid, ‘If you have a need with us,’ meaning in Yemen, ‘then beware Muhammad ibn Idris, for he has overcome what is under my hand, and if he wanted to rise, no one would remain except that he would follow him.’” He said, “So I was carried to the door, and the people of hadith gathered around me.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 70.)

Al Abri narrated with his chain to al Shafiʿi, “That he was brought in to al Rashid, and he said, ‘O brother of Shafiʿ, you have split the community and gone out with the ʿAlawis against us.’

So I said, ‘O Commander of the Believers, should I leave the one who says, “He is my cousin,” and go to the one who says, “He is my slave”?’ So he released him and gave him a gift.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 70.)

He also narrated with his chain to al Shafiʿi that he said, “I went out to Yemen and stayed there for months, and my standing rose there. There was a governor appointed by al Rashid, and he was unjust and harsh.

I would sometimes hold his hands back and prevent him from oppression. In Yemen there was a group of ʿAlawis who had begun to move, so the governor wrote to al Rashid, ‘The ʿAlawis have begun to move and they want to rise, and here there is a man from the descendants of Shafiʿ ibn al Saʾib from Banu al Muttalib.

I have no command over him and no power over him.’ So al Rashid wrote to him to seize them and to seize me.” Al Shafiʿi said, “It reached me from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, who was a companion of Harun, that he was with Harun when they were brought in to him, so he killed the ʿAlawis.

Then he turned to Muhammad ibn al Hasan and said to him, ‘O Commander of the Believers, do not let this one defeat you with his clear speech and his tongue, for he is a sharp speaker.’

Al Shafiʿi said, “So I said, ‘Slowly, O Commander of the Believers. You are the shepherd and I am the one cared for.

You have power over what you want from me. What do you say about two men, one sees me as his brother, and the other sees me as his slave. Which of them is more beloved to me?’

He said, ‘The one who sees you as his brother.’ I said, ‘Then you are that, O Commander of the Believers. You are the descendants of al ʿAbbas, they are the descendants of ʿAli, and we are your brothers from Banu al Muttalib.

So you see us as brothers, and they see us as slaves.’” He said, “So what was on him was lifted, and he sat upright and said, ‘Admonish me.’ So I admonished him until he cried. Then he ordered fifty thousand dirhams for me.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 70.)

These are the most well known reports about his trial. Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH), after mentioning them, said: “This is the closest I have found regarding the matter of the trial.” Even if these reports differ, they agree that he was accused with a serious charge that almost brought him close to ruin, but Allah saved him for a purpose Allah intended for him.

A Fabricated Report About Inciting al Rashid to Kill Him

It is necessary to point out a fabricated report that claims that Muhammad ibn al Hasan and Abu Yusuf tried to push Harun al Rashid to kill him. This report is taken from the “Journey” attributed to al Shafiʿi, narrated through ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Balawi, and it was brought by al Abri and al Bayhaqi in their books from al Shafiʿi, and al Fakhr al Razi mentioned it in “Manaqib al Shafiʿi” without a chain. Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) said: it is fabricated, most of it is invented, and some of it is stitched together from unreliable reports. The clearest lie in it is its claim that Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al Hasan urged the killing of al Shafiʿi. This is false for two reasons.

The first is that Abu Yusuf had died before al Shafiʿi entered Baghdad, so al Shafiʿi did not meet him.

The second is that they were more mindful of Allah than to seek the killing of a Muslim man, especially when he was known for knowledge, and he had done them no wrong except that some people envied him for what Allah gave him of knowledge. This is not to be assumed about them.

Their rank, their standing, and what was known of their religion prevents that. What is firmly established through sound paths is that al Shafiʿi’s first arrival in Baghdad was in 184 AH, and Abu Yusuf had died two years before that, and that he met Muhammad ibn al Hasan in that arrival. Muhammad ibn al Hasan already knew him earlier from al Hijaz, and al Shafiʿi took from him and stayed with him.

We narrated in “Kitab al Alqab” by Abu Bakr al Shirazi, with his chain to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al Muqaddami, that he said: al Shafiʿi said, “Muhammad ibn al Hasan was always great and honoured in my sight.

I spent sixty dinars on his books, until he and I were gathered in a sitting with Harun, the Commander of the Believers. Muhammad ibn al Hasan began and said, ‘O Commander of the Believers, the people of Madinah opposed the Book of Allah openly, and the rulings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the rulings of the Muslims, and they judged with a witness and an oath.’”

Al Shafiʿi said, “What was near and far seized me, so I stood and said, ‘I see that you intended the household of prophethood, and those among whom the Qur’an was sent down, and the grave of the Prophet ﷺ is among them. You set out to blame them. Tell me, with what did you judge?

With the testimony of the midwife alone, until you caused a caliph to inherit a great kingdom and great wealth.’” He said, “With ʿAli ibn Abi Talib.” Al Shafiʿi said, “I said, ‘This was only narrated from ʿAli by an unknown man called ʿAbd Allah ibn Nuji, and it was narrated from Nuji by Jabir al Juʿfi, and he believed in the return,’” and he mentioned the story. This is what occurred between him and Muhammad ibn al Hasan.

Muhammad ibn al Hasan would greatly honour him and show good manners with him and be pleased with him.

Al Abri narrated with his chain from Abu Hassan al Hasan ibn ʿUthman al Ziyadi that he said: “I was in the entrance hall of Muhammad ibn al Hasan. Muhammad came out riding, and he saw al Shafiʿi had arrived.

He bent his leg and came down and said to his servant, ‘Go and apologise.’ Al Shafiʿi said, ‘We have a time other than this.’ He said, ‘No,’ and he took his hand and they entered the house.

Abu Hassan said, ‘He chose to sit with al Shafiʿi instead of his assigned place in the house,’ meaning the house of the caliphate. Abu Hassan said, “I never saw Muhammad honour anyone the way he honoured al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 71.)

This is what Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) said regarding this accusation against two great scholars. Al Shafiʿi used to say, “I have not seen a man more understanding than him.” He also said, “When he spoke, it was as if the Qur’an had been revealed in his language,” meaning because of his clarity. A man spoke badly about Muhammad ibn al Hasan in front of al Shafiʿi, so al Shafiʿi said to him, “Stop. You have tasted a bite that the noble have long chewed and then left.”

Length of His Stay in Iraq

No narrator mentioned how long al Shafiʿi stayed in Baghdad this time, which was the first time. What seems likely is that his stay was long, and it may have exceeded years. Writing down the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan, hearing them from him, his involvement in debates with the ulama and jurists and hadith scholars, and taking knowledge from shaykhs, all of this needs a long time. His stay may have continued until the death of Muhammad ibn al Hasan in 189 AH, or shortly before it. Then he returned to Makkah.

Al Shafiʿi left Iraq and left an impact that did not fade from the hearts of those who agreed with him and those who opposed him. They agreed on testifying to his intellect, understanding, and quick grasp.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq al Saghani said, “I asked Yahya ibn Aktham about al Shafiʿi, and he said, ‘We were often with Muhammad ibn al Hasan in debate, and al Shafiʿi was a man of Quraysh in intellect, understanding, and sharpness, with a clear mind and understanding and perception, quick in reaching what is correct. If he had gone deeper in hadith, the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would have been sufficient with him and not needed other ulama.’” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 56.)

His Return to Makkah

His Move Towards Fully Independent Ijtihad After Taking the Knowledge of al Hijaz and Iraq

Al Shafiʿi returned to Makkah, and Allah saved him from a trial whose end was death. He returned carrying a camel load of the knowledge of the people of opinion, and with it what he heard from the jurist of Iraq, Muhammad ibn al Hasan, the companion of Abu Hanifah.

So he gathered together the knowledge of al Hijaz, most of it reports and Sunnah, and the knowledge of the skilled people of opinion in fiqh, analogy, and extracting rulings.

Throughout his stay in Baghdad in that first time, the thought of leaving his attachment to the madhhab of Malik did not come to him. Rather, he continued strongly defending the fiqh of Malik, in its foundations and branches, and he challenged the people of opinion with proof, defending his madhhab. Yet entering the field of debates and facing proofs with proofs stirred in him the wish to compare proofs, distinguish the weak from the strong, and the mistaken from the correct.

This direction became clear to him when he returned to Makkah and began to review the foundations and branches of the madhhahib. From here, the thought of fully independent ijtihad grew in his mind.

He had preserved and understood the knowledge of the earlier and later jurists and hadith scholars, and he knew what was for it and what was against it, its strengths and its points of criticism.

So he only needed to take from everything he knew what was strongest in proof, clearest in method, and closest to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ. In this phase, he did not care to cling to partisanship for any imam. His partisanship was for the truth alone, and for the religion of Allah, fearing distortion or change against what is in the Book of Allah and the hadith of His Messenger ﷺ.

Abu al Walid ibn Abi al Jarud said, “We and our companions among the people of Makkah used to say that al Shafiʿi took the books of Ibn Jurayj from four people, from Muslim ibn Khalid, Saʿid ibn Salim, and these two were jurists, and from ʿAbd al Majid ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Rawwad, and he was the most knowledgeable of them regarding Ibn Jurayj, and from ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith al Makhzumi, and he was among the reliable.

Leadership of fiqh in Madinah ended with Malik ibn Anas, so he travelled to him, stayed with him, and took from him. Leadership of fiqh in Iraq ended with Abu Hanifah, so he took from his companion Muhammad ibn al Hasan a great amount in which there was nothing except that he heard it from him.

So he gathered together the knowledge of the people of opinion and the knowledge of the people of hadith, and he worked with it until he set down foundational principles, laid down rules, and those who agreed and those who opposed yielded to him. His affair became well known, his mention rose, his standing rose, until it became what it became.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 53.)

His Circle in al Masjid al Haram and the Rise of His Standing Among the Ulama

Al Shafiʿi took hold of the reins of ijtihad with ability, strength, and knowledge. He set down foundational principles and rules, and he formed a circle in al Masjid al Haram that drew to him many people of rank in knowledge. They listened to his new methods in principles and general rules, until he filled their minds and they testified to his superiority in understanding and intellect.

Among the greatest of them was Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH). He came as a pilgrim to Makkah, entered al Masjid al Haram, and met the major ulama and hadith scholars there. The most famous of them was Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH). Ahmad’s sight was drawn to al Shafiʿi in his circle. Ahmad had known him in Iraq, but he saw something new in him beyond narration.

He saw in him a strong understanding of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ. He heard from him principles and rules he had not heard from anyone else, showing the greatness of his intellect and depth of his understanding. So Ahmad would leave the circles of the shaykhs, the shaykhs of narration, and would stay with the circle of al Shafiʿi.

Muhammad ibn al Fadl al Farra’ said, “I heard my father say, ‘I travelled for Hajj with Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He stayed in one place with him. He went out early and I went out after him. I went around the masjid and I did not find him in the circle of Ibn ʿUyaynah or anyone else, until I found him sitting with a desert Arab. I said, “O Abu ʿAbd Allah, you left Ibn ʿUyaynah and came to this one.”

He said to me, “Be quiet. If a hadith with a high chain passes you, you can still find it with a lower chain. If the intellect of this man passes you, I fear you will not find it. I have not seen anyone with deeper fiqh in the Book of Allah than this young man.” I said, “Who is this.” He said, “Muhammad ibn Idris.”’” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 56.)

Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (d. 238 AH) said, “I was with Ahmad in Makkah, and he said to me, ‘Come so I can show you a man whose like you have not seen,’ and he showed me al Shafiʿi.”

Al Humaydi said, “Ahmad ibn Hanbal stayed with us in Makkah with Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah. He said to me one day, ‘Here there is a man from Quraysh with clear speech and knowledge.’

I said to him, ‘Who is he.’

He said, ‘Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi.’ Ahmad ibn Hanbal had sat with him in Iraq, and he did not stop until he pulled me to him.”

“Al Shafiʿi was opposite the waterspout, so we sat with him, and issues were discussed. When we stood up, Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, ‘How did you find him.’

I began to follow what he had been mistaken in, and that was from jealousy. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me, ‘Do you refuse that a man from Quraysh can have this knowledge and this clear speech. A hundred issues pass, and he is mistaken in five or ten. Leave what he was mistaken in and take what he was correct in.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 44.)

Like Ahmad was Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, who debated al Shafiʿi with stubbornness and force in this sitting in the sanctuary of Makkah.

He said after one of these debates, “I debated him and he debated me, and knowledge came out from him that amazed me, and I liked his memorisation.” He said once, “Al Shafiʿi is an imam.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

Bishr al Marisi, the debater, saw al Shafiʿi in this period in Makkah, and he said about him, “With him is half the intellect of the people of the universe.” Al Hasan ibn Muhammad al Zaʿfarani said, “We used to attend the circle of Bishr al Marisi, and we could not debate him.

We went to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and said to him, ‘Give us permission to memorise the small Jamiʿ that belongs to Abu Hanifah, so we can enter with them when they enter.’ He said, ‘Be patient. The Muttalibi whom I saw in Makkah will arrive to you now.’ He said, ‘Al Shafiʿi arrived to us, so they went to him and we asked him for some of his books. He gave us the book about the oath with a witness.

I studied it in two nights. Then I went early to Bishr al Marisi, and I stepped over until I reached him. When he saw me, he said, “What brought you here, O companion of hadith.” I said, “Leave this. What is the proof for invalidating the oath with a witness.”

So I debated him and cut him off. He said, “This is not from your skill. This is from the speech of a man I saw in Makkah, with him is half the intellect of the people of the universe.”’” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/304.)

It seems that the circle of al Shafiʿi in al Masjid al Haram became greater than every circle because of its size, its life, the debates held in it, and the discussions raised in it. Sometimes he would call the people to ask him about the fiqh of an ayah, or the explanation of a Sunnah, and he would answer with the best and clearest answer. ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al Furayabi said, “I stood in Makkah at a great circle, and in it was a man.

I asked about him and it was said, ‘This is Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi.’

I heard him say, ‘Ask me whatever you want, and I will answer you with an ayah from the Book of Allah, and a Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ, and the statement of a Companion.’ I said within myself, ‘This man is bold.’ Then I said to him, ‘What do you say about a man in ihram who kills a wasp.’ He said:

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا

“And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you from, stop.” (al Hashr 7)

Then he said, ‘Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us from ʿAbd al Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Ribʿi, from Hudhayfah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Follow the two after me, Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.”’

And Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us from Misʿar, from Qays ibn Muslim, from Tariq ibn Shihab, that ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, ordered the one in ihram to kill the wasp.” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/316.)

In this period he did not stop attending the circles of Ibn ʿUyaynah, his earlier shaykh and the hadith scholar of the sanctuary. Ibn ʿUyaynah trusted the knowledge and fiqh of al Shafiʿi. Sometimes he would ask him, in front of the people, about the meaning of an ayah or the fiqh of a hadith, and he would answer in a way that pleased his shaykh. Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas said, “I was in the circle of Ibn ʿUyaynah and al Shafiʿi was present.

Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from al Zuhri the hadith of Safiyyah and the two men, and in it is, ‘Satan runs in a human being like blood runs.’ Ibn ʿUyaynah said to al Shafiʿi, ‘What is the fiqh of this hadith, O Abu ʿAbd Allah.’

He said, ‘If the people had accused the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then by accusing him they would be disbelievers. Rather, the Messenger ﷺ taught those after him. If you are in such a situation, then do like this, so that it will not be thought about you. It is not that the Prophet ﷺ, who is Allah’s trustee over His revelation, is accused.’

Ibn ʿUyaynah said, ‘May Allah reward you with goodness, O Abu ʿAbd Allah. Nothing comes to us from you except what we love.’” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 54.)

His Writing of al Risalah in That Period

It appears that the fame of al Shafiʿi in his circle in al Masjid al Haram, and the new discussions in principles and rules that were raised there, went beyond Makkah and reached Iraq. Its ulama recognised the worth of what he was giving to the people. This is what made the preserver of Iraq, ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi (d. 198 AH), write to al Shafiʿi while he was in Makkah, asking him, while he was still young, to write a book for him on the meanings of the Qur’an, gathering the accepted reports, the proof of consensus, and clarifying the abrogating and abrogated in the Qur’an and Sunnah. So he wrote for him the book “al Risalah.”

ʿAli ibn al Madini (d. 234 AH) said, “I said to Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi, ‘Answer ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi about his letter.

He wrote to you asking, and he is eager for your answer.’ So al Shafiʿi answered him. It is the book al Risalah that was written from him in Iraq, and it is his letter to ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi.” (al Intiqa’, 72–73.)

This is “al Risalah.” Al Shafiʿi wrote it in this period in Makkah, and al Harith ibn Surayj al Naqqal carried it to Ibn Mahdi, and because of that he was called “al Naqqal.” Al Fakhr al Razi said that al Shafiʿi wrote al Risalah in Baghdad, and when he returned to Egypt he wrote it again, and in each version there is much knowledge.

There is no meaning to Ibn Mahdi writing to al Shafiʿi, and al Shafiʿi answering him, and Ibn Surayj carrying the letter, if both were in Baghdad. Unless it is said that Ibn Mahdi was in Basrah and al Shafiʿi was in Baghdad, and this is far.

This is a summary of some of al Shafiʿi’s activities in spreading his views and ijtihad in principles and fiqh in that period in Makkah. It would have been better if this period had been clearly outlined and precisely dated in the books of historians and biographers, but what cannot be fully reached should not be fully left.

His Second Journey to Iraq

This Journey Was His Most Beneficial Journey to Iraq

Al Shafiʿi travelled to Baghdad by choice in the second journey in 195 AH. It was the most beneficial, most fruitful, and most effective journey for him and for the people, even though it was short and did not go beyond two years. The direct reason that led him to this journey is not known. What seems most likely is that it was a scholarly reason.

Al Shafiʿi knew Baghdad before, knew its ulama, and had already taken from the people of opinion among them.

He had also seen the strong conflict between the hadith scholars, who held tightly to the apparent wording and rarely moved beyond it, and behind them most people, and the jurists of opinion, who were on the other side, not accepting a text until they examined it strongly and expanded it heavily, and they placed analogy, preference, custom, and other things over much of their ijtihad.

They had strong ability in debate and research, and with them was the influence and power of the authority. Al Shafiʿi did not leave Baghdad the first time except after he formed in himself an ijtihadi view, far from the surface level of those, and far from the control of opinion among these.

This time, his fame arrived in Baghdad before him, carried by major hadith scholars and jurists such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Bishr al Marisi, and ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi, for whom al Shafiʿi wrote al Risalah, answering his request. Even so, al Shafiʿi entering Iraq and announcing his ijtihad there was a serious risk if he did not carry the weapon of knowledge, proof, and clear speech equal to both groups, or above them.

Yet the way may have been made easier for him from the side of the hadith scholars and their jurists. He came to support the Sunnah, strengthen its people, and bring a clear opening in the foundations of understanding it, extracting from it, and strengthening its rulings. Al Nawawi said: he spread the knowledge of hadith and the madhhab of its people in Iraq, supported the Sunnah, and his mention and merit spread. (al Majmuʿ, 1/16.)

It is said that when he came to Baghdad he stayed with Abu Hassan al Ziyadi, and it is said he stayed with al Zaʿfarani. It is also said he stayed with Bishr al Marisi, and he placed him in the upper area while he was in the lower area, honouring him, until his mother said to him, “O Abu ʿAbd Allah, what are you doing with this heretic.” So he left him.

His Circle in the Western Mosque in Baghdad

Then al Shafiʿi went to the western mosque, where circles of knowledge were held. He chose a place and began presenting his principles, rules, and sources of his fiqh. Learners and ulama came to him. Many only came at the start to test him and examine his knowledge.

Some came proud of their madhhab and wanting to mock the new jurist, as they claimed. When they heard him, his clear speech amazed them and his proof took hold of them. They turned to his view and followed his madhhab.

Among these was Abu Thawr. He said, “When al Shafiʿi entered Iraq, Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi came to me, and he used to go with me to the people of opinion. He said to me, ‘A man from the people of hadith has come, trying to gain fiqh.

Come, let us mock him.’ So we went to him. Husayn asked him about an issue, and he kept saying, ‘Allah said,’ ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,’ until the house became dark over us. We left what we had been on and followed him.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 58.)

In another wording from him he said, “I was among the companions of Muhammad ibn al Hasan. When al Shafiʿi came to us, I came to his circle like someone mocking. I asked him about an issue from al Dur. He did not answer me and he said to me, ‘How do you raise your hands in the prayer.’ I said, ‘Like this.’

He said to me, ‘You are mistaken.’ I said, ‘How should I do it.’ He said, ‘Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to me from al Zuhri, from Salim, from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ used to raise his hands to the level of his shoulders, and when he bowed, and when he rose.’ Abu Thawr said, ‘That fell into my heart. I began to increase in coming to al Shafiʿi and to shorten my going to Muhammad ibn al Hasan.

Muhammad said to me one day, “O Abu Thawr, I think this Hijazi has overcome you.” I said, “Yes, the truth is with him.” He said, “How is that.” I said, “How do you raise your hands in the prayer.” He answered me similar to what I answered al Shafiʿi.

I said, “You are mistaken.” He said, “How should I do it.” I said, “Al Shafiʿi narrated to me from Ibn ʿUyaynah, from al Zuhri, from Salim, from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ used to raise his hands to the level of his shoulders, and when he bowed, and when he rose.” Abu Thawr said, “After a month, he said, ‘O Abu Thawr, take your issue in al Dur.

I only withheld the answer from you that day because you were being difficult.’” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/302.)

Abu Thawr said, “I, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Husayn al Karabisi, and a group of Iraqis did not leave our innovation until we saw al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

Al Shafiʿi kept moving strongly, bringing every day something new from understanding the Book of Allah and the fiqh of the hadith of the Messenger ﷺ, until he compelled the necks to admit his merit, and he carried the ulama to admit his knowledge. His affair became clear among the people.

Most circles of opponents in the western mosque broke apart, and only a few remained. Ibrahim al Harbi said, “Al Shafiʿi arrived in Baghdad, and in the western mosque there were twenty circles of the people of opinion. When Friday came, only three or four circles remained.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/63.)

The judiciary positions were all in the hands of the people of opinion. The people, even the people of hadith, could not avoid accepting them and working with their rulings, because the people of opinion expanded greatly in branches, so they covered many cases raised to court. The hadith scholars kept themselves in surface level understandings of the Sunnah, until al Shafiʿi came to Baghdad and brought them a fiqh supported by the Book and strengthened by the Sunnah, so they became sufficient with it.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Our judiciary was in the hands of the companions of Abu Hanifah. It was not taken away until we saw al Shafiʿi. He was the most understanding of the people in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 56.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal also said, when he was asked about al Shafiʿi, “Allah granted him to us. We used to learn the speech of those people and write their books, until al Shafiʿi came to us. When we heard his speech, we knew he was more knowledgeable than others. We sat with him for days and nights and we saw from him nothing except all goodness. May Allah have mercy on him.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/60.)

His Great Impact on the People of Hadith

What was it that the hadith scholars gained from al Shafiʿi when he came to Baghdad in this time?

The concern of many among the people of hadith was hearing hadith, travelling for it, gathering its paths, seeking high chains, and uncommon texts.

They spent their lives in that. If they were asked about the meaning of a hadith or its fiqh, some of them would struggle to answer. Ibn al Jawzi narrated from al Khattabi that he said, “Some of our shaykhs used to narrate the hadith, ‘The Prophet ﷺ forbade al halq before the Friday prayer,’ with the letter lam read as silent.

He said, ‘He stayed forty years not shaving his head before the prayer.’ I said to him, ‘Al halq here is the plural of halqah, meaning a circle. It means gathering before the prayer for knowledge and discussion, and it is disliked. The person is commanded to focus on prayer and to listen to the sermon.’ He said, ‘You have opened this for me.’ He was among the righteous.” (Talbis Iblis, 114.)

Ibn al Jawzi also narrated with his chain to al Barqani that he said: Abu Bakr al Abhari, the jurist, said, “I was with Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Saʿid. A woman came to him and said, ‘O shaykh, what do you say about a well in which a hen fell and died. Is the water pure or impure.’ Yahya said, ‘How did the hen fall into the well.’ She said, ‘The well was not covered.’

Yahya said, ‘Why did you not cover it, so that nothing would fall into it.’” Al Abhari said, “I said, ‘O woman, if the water changed then it is impure, and if it did not change then it is pure.’” (Talbis Iblis, 115.) This was the situation of many hadith scholars, complete turning to their craft, and neglect of what was beyond it.

Because of this, those who attacked them found a way and said about them, “They are like pack animals carrying books, not knowing what is with them.” (Talbis Iblis, 115.)

There was also a group among them who reached a high level in hadith and did not neglect fiqh, and they shared in extracting rulings, like Yahya ibn Maʿin, ʿAli ibn al Madini, al Bukhari, Muslim, and others. At the head of these was Ahmad ibn Hanbal. In his time there were many who had fiqh in the Sunnah, but they did not reach the level of skilled jurists.

When al Shafiʿi came to them in Baghdad, they saw in him the peak of what they wished for: a man of Quraysh in intellect and understanding, with half the intellect of the people of the universe, memorising the Qur’an, and greater than memorising it was his understanding of it. He memorised the Sunnah and took it from the greatest hadith scholars, like Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah and Malik ibn Anas.

He had in understanding it and extracting fiqh from it a reach that those capable could not reach, while not forcing the text out of its place in the Arabic language. Whatever he laid down in principles or expanded in branches, he would throw it all away when the Sunnah was established against it, because no one after Allah and His Messenger ﷺ has the right to legislate what Allah has not permitted.

They also saw in him honour, nobility, taqwa, waraʿ, balance, wisdom, forbearance, patience, fairness to an opponent, listening to his proof, admitting the truth, and courage in accepting it. So they came to him strongly, taking from him with eagerness what was hidden to them regarding the general and specific, the concise and detailed, the abrogating and abrogated, and what was absent to them from the Sunnah that they had memorised and specialised in.

In summary, the hadith scholars saw in al Shafiʿi a strong guide and supporter of hadith, holding firmly to what is transmitted, guiding them to the clear path. The fair minded jurists also saw in him one who led them to decisive proof and clear truth.

Testimonies of the Hadith Scholars About al Shafiʿi’s Merit Over Them

Here are the words of some of those who were influenced by al Shafiʿi in Baghdad during that period. Al Hasan ibn Muhammad al Sabbah al Zaʿfarani said, “The people of hadith were asleep, then al Shafiʿi woke them up, and they woke up.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

Dawud ibn ʿAli al Zahiri said, “Al Shafiʿi was a lamp for those who carried the reports, and those who transmitted the narrations. Whoever held on to something of his clarity became a strong guide.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/63.) (He is Dawud ibn ʿAli ibn Khalaf, known as al Zahiri. He was one of the mujtahid imams in Islam, and the imam of the Zahiris. He died in 270 AH.)

Imam Ahmad said, “We kept cursing the people of opinion, and they kept cursing us, until al Shafiʿi came and mixed us together.” (Tartib al Madarik, 1/95.)

Dubays said, “I was with Ahmad ibn Hanbal in the masjid, and Husayn, meaning al Karabisi, passed by. He said, ‘This, meaning al Shafiʿi, is a mercy from Allah for the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 57.) He also said, “We did not understand how to extract most of the Sunnah rulings except through al Shafiʿi teaching us.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/61.) (Perhaps he was Abu ʿAli Dubays ibn Salam al Qasabani, who died in 201 AH.)

Hilal ibn al ʿAla’ said, “The people of hadith depend on al Shafiʿi. He opened the locks for them.” (Tahdhib al Asma’, 1/64.)

As for Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he has many words about al Shafiʿi’s effect on the hadith scholars, and what he opened for them from the closed doors of fiqh, and from the meanings of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Among that is his statement, “If it were not for al Shafiʿi, we would not have known the fiqh of hadith.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

Among that is his statement, “The people of hadith did not know the meanings of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, so he explained them for them.” (Tahdhib al Asma’, 1/61.) Among that is his statement, “Fiqh was a lock upon its people until Allah opened it through al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asma’, 1/61.)

Among that is his statement, “The companion of hadith does not become free of needing the books of al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asma’, 1/61.)

Among that is his statement, “Al Shafiʿi explained hadith well. He brought a fine new method, and he argued for the proof of the single report with good words and clear proof.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.) Among what he said in that is, “Al Shafiʿi is a philosopher in 4

matters: language, the differences of people, meanings, and fiqh.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.) Among that is his statement, “Nuʿaym ibn Hammad came to us and pushed us to seek the Musnad, then when al Shafiʿi came, he placed us upon the clear white path.” (He is Nuʿaym ibn Hammad ibn Muʿawiyah ibn al Harith al Khuzaʿi al Marwazi. He was the first to gather the Musnad in hadith. He died in Iraq in 228 AH.)

From Salih ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he said, “Al Shafiʿi came one day to my father to visit him, and my father was ill. My father jumped up to him, kissed between his eyes, then seated him in his place, and sat in front of him. He asked him for a while. When al Shafiʿi got up to ride, my father stood, took hold of his stirrup, and walked with him.

That reached Yahya ibn Maʿin, so he sent to my father, ‘O Abu ʿAbd Allah, glory be to Allah. Has the matter forced you to walk beside the mule of al Shafiʿi.’

My father said to him, ‘And you, O Abu Zakariyya, if you walked on the other side, you would benefit from him.’ Then he said, ‘Whoever wants fiqh should smell the tail of this mule.’” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/301.)

Al Nawawi summarised al Shafiʿi’s merit over the hadith scholars and said, “He is the one who placed the great favours upon the people of reports, the carriers of hadith, and the transmitters of narrations, by making them stop at the meanings of the Sunnah, and by explaining them, and by casting truth upon the falsehood of those who opposed the Sunnah and their deception.

So he raised them after they had been hidden, and his word became clear over all opponents, and he struck them with clear proofs, until their necks remained submissive to them.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal held al Shafiʿi in such high regard, and trusted his knowledge, ijtihad, and fiqh so much, that when he was asked about an issue and did not know any report in it, he would give a fatwa with the view of al Shafiʿi. He said, “When I am asked about an issue and I do not know a report in it, I say in it: the view of al Shafiʿi, because he is the scholar of Quraysh.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 1/200.)

He mentioned the hadith and applied it to him. (The hadith is: “Do not lead Quraysh in prayer. Follow them. Do not go ahead of Quraysh, rather put them forward. Do not teach Quraysh, rather learn from them. The leadership of a trustworthy person from Quraysh equals the leadership of a trustworthy person from others, and the knowledge of a scholar of Quraysh would fill the breadth of the earth.” See Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 1/198 and after it, the al Babi edition.)

In sum, the hadith scholars and the jurists of Iraq turned to al Shafiʿi in a way that has no equal. They loved him with a love that did not reach even some of it anyone else. Many benefited from his knowledge, and creation benefited from him in numbers that only Allah can count. They praised him with what he deserved, praise that none of the ulama of his time gained even part of.

The skilled people of fiqh and careful thinking, and the people of Arabic, all agreed on this. Al Buwayti said, and he was among his Egyptian students, “We did not know the rank of al Shafiʿi until I saw the people of Iraq mention him and describe him with a description we could not describe well. The skilled people of Iraq in fiqh and careful thinking, and every group from the people of hadith, the people of Arabic, and the debaters, say, ‘We have not seen anyone like al Shafiʿi.’” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

Al Nawawi also said about al Shafiʿi’s state in Iraq, “When al Shafiʿi’s greatness became well known in Iraq, and his mention spread across the horizons, those who agreed and those who opposed accepted his merit, and the ulama all acknowledged him, and his rank became great among creation and the rulers.

His greatness and his imamah became firm with them. In his debates with the people of Iraq and others, there appeared from his merit what did not appear from anyone else. He showed from explaining the rules and the major foundations what was not known from others. He was tested in many places with countless issues, and his answers were at the highest level of correctness and soundness.

The young and the old, and the righteous imams, from the people of hadith and fiqh and others, stayed with him to benefit.

Many of them returned from madhhahib they were on to his madhhab and held firmly to his approach, such as Abu Thawr and many imams. Many of them left taking from their shaykhs and the major imams because they turned fully to al Shafiʿi when they saw with him what they did not find with others.

Allah blessed for him and for them those shining sciences, and those clear virtues, and those many wonders. All praise belongs to Allah for that and for all His blessings that cannot be counted.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/48.)

The Outcome of His Scholarly Effort in This Journey

So what was the outcome of the great scholarly effort al Shafiʿi put forth in Baghdad in this journey?

Whoever knows Baghdad at the end of the 2nd century, and the many peoples and groups in it, the different religions, sects, madhhahib, ideas, and views in philosophy, sciences, and beliefs, and the wealth, comfort, and power in it, and whoever knows how its masjids were full, with one speaking about religion in obedience, zuhud, and taqwa, another speaking as a hadith scholar focused on transmission, another as a mujtahid extracting rulings, and others as people of desires, and whoever knows that thousands of ulama, thinkers, writers, and poets came to it from every direction, and most of them disappeared in its greatness and civilisation, and whoever knows that the strongest group in Iraq among ordinary people were the hadith scholars, and the strongest group with the ruler were the jurists of opinion, can picture al Shafiʿi’s ability and his effect in Iraq. He had no weapon or power to force them except the power of intellect, understanding, knowledge, and proof.

He organised the hadith scholars, taught them the way to understand the Sunnah and to extract rulings from it, and he held back the excess of the people of opinion by debating them publicly.

He spread his madhhab that gathered the best of the 2 ways. He relied on the text first, and he controlled analogy and made it sound. When the text was established and its meaning was sound, he humbled himself to it and left everything else, because no one has a proof against the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

He focused on the foundations of his ijtihad and wrote his book called al Risalah, which he wrote for ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi. He spread from it his foundations among the people. The ulama cared about it, studied it, and some read it to al Shafiʿi himself. Some asked him to find someone to read it in his presence.

As for detailed branches, their proofs, and replies to opponents or debating them, he gathered these discussions in the book al Hujjah, or as Ibn al Nadim named it, al Mabsut, and calling it al Hujjah is more recognised and more famous. This book, as it states in Kashf al Zunun, is “a large volume he authored in Iraq, and when ‘the old view’ is stated in his madhhab, it refers to this work.”

Al Nawawi said, “He authored in Iraq his old book called Kitab al Hujjah, and it is narrated from him by 4 of his major Iraqi companions: Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Thawr, al Zaʿfarani, and al Karabisi, and the strongest of them in narration is al Zaʿfarani.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/48.)

It appears that Kitab al Hujjah is not a single book, rather it is a collection of books, similar to Kitab al Umm which he authored in Egypt, and this will be discussed. His Iraqi students narrated these 2 works, al Risalah and al Hujjah, and they also narrated much besides them, spread across many books. Imam Ahmad alone narrated many things from him. Among them is that he heard the Muwatta’ of Malik from him. Salih ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated that and said, “I heard my father say, ‘I heard the Muwatta’ from al Shafiʿi because I saw him reliable in it.’” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “My father used to describe al Shafiʿi at length. He wrote many hadith from him, and I wrote after my father’s death, from my father’s handwriting, several hadith from what he heard from him.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal used to say, “No one ever touched an inkpot and a pen except that al Shafiʿi has a favour upon his neck.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

What has been reported from Imam Ahmad, that he sought refuge with Allah from having written al Risalah, and his denying writing anything else, and his making it seem small, and his forbidding writing it, is a low false report.

Some harsh partisans invented it to turn people away from al Shafiʿi’s merit, even though without al Shafiʿi there would not have been a madhhab for Ahmad. What is widely reported from Ahmad ibn Hanbal is the opposite.

No one benefited from al Shafiʿi like Ahmad did, and no one narrated from him like Ahmad did. He advised others many times to write al Shafiʿi’s books. He used to say, “I do not know anyone with a greater favour upon Islam in the time of al Shafiʿi than al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/60.)

Al Fudayl ibn Ziyad said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Everything you see here, all of it or most of it, is from al Shafiʿi. I did not spend 40 years except that I was asking Allah for al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/60.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “I said to my father, ‘My father, what kind of man was al Shafiʿi. I hear you make much duʿa’ for him.’ He said, ‘My son, al Shafiʿi was like the sun for this life, and like well being for the body. Look, do either of these have any replacement or any substitute.’” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.)

Some of Ahmad’s words about al Shafiʿi’s merit have already passed, especially his merit over the people of hadith, who had been asleep, then he woke them, as al Zaʿfarani said, and their court rulings were in the hands of the people of opinion until al Shafiʿi came, as Ahmad said.

May Allah have mercy on Muhammad ibn al Hasan. He used to say, “If the people of hadith ever speak, then it will be with the tongue of al Shafiʿi,” meaning because of what he wrote in his books. (Tawali al Ta’sis, 55.) (Tahdhib al Asma’, 1/50.)

Some major ulama did not even see for Ahmad ibn Hanbal a fully separate madhhab, rather they saw it as the madhhab of al Shafiʿi with some ijtihad added. In the book of al Hakim it is narrated: “I heard Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Ismaʿil, the jurist, writer, and al Shashi al Qaffal, the imam of his time beyond the river for the Shafiʿis, say: I entered upon Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah when I first came to Naysabur.

I spoke in front of him while I was a young man, and he said to me: ‘Who do you go to.’ I said: ‘To Abu al Layth.’

He said: ‘And this Abu al Layth, what madhhab does he follow.’ I said: ‘Hanbali.’ He said: ‘My son, say Shafiʿi. Was Ahmad ibn Hanbal anything other than a young student of al Shafiʿi.’” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/298.)

Al Zaʿfarani, the narrator of al Shafiʿi’s old books, said, “I never went to al Shafiʿi in a sitting except that I found Ahmad ibn Hanbal in it.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/60.)

It was also the sign of the hadith scholars, their followers, their jurists, and the people of rank among them, that al Shafiʿi was more knowledgeable than Ibrahim al Nakhʿi, the shaykh of the shaykhs of the people of opinion and those like them. Dawud said, “I was with Abu Thawr, and a man entered and said, ‘O Abu Thawr, what do you think about this disaster that has come down upon the people.’

He said, ‘What is it.’ He said, ‘They say: al Thawri is more knowledgeable than al Shafiʿi.’ He said, ‘Glory be to Allah the Magnificent, did they say it.’

He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘We say: al Shafiʿi is more knowledgeable than Ibrahim al Nakhʿi and those like him, and they bring to us al Thawri.’” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/63.)

His Students in Iraq

Al Shafiʿi left many students in Iraq. The most famous of them were Khalid al Khallal, Ahmad ibn Sinan al Qattan, Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Surayj al Nahshali, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Baghdadi, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, al Harith ibn Surayj al Naqqal, al Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al Sabbah al Zaʿfarani, al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi, al Husayn al Qallas, Sulayman ibn Dawud, al Qasim ibn Sallam Abu ʿUbayd, and many others. The major companions who were mentioned as narrators of his old books in Iraq were 4, and they are mentioned here briefly.

The first is Ahmad ibn Hanbal, one of the 4 imams. Al Shafiʿi said about him, “I left Baghdad, and I did not leave in it anyone with deeper fiqh, nor more careful with religion, nor more in zuhud, nor more knowledgeable than Ahmad.” Abu Zurʿah said: he used to memorise 1,000,000 hadith.

Ibrahim al Harbi said, “I saw Ahmad. It is as if Allah gathered for him the knowledge of the earlier people and the later people.” Qutaybah said, “If you see a man who loves Ahmad, then know he is a person of Sunnah.”

He studied fiqh under al Shafiʿi, and he is the one who narrated from him that he permitted selling broad beans in their pods. Al Muʿtasim imprisoned him in the trial of the creation of the Qur’an for 28 months. Then when al Mutawakkil took authority, he honoured Imam Ahmad. He died in 241 AH.

The second is the great imam Ibrahim ibn Khalid ibn Abi al Yaman, Abu Thawr. He narrated from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, Ibn ʿUlayyah, al Shafiʿi, ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi, Yazid ibn Harun, and a group. Muslim narrated from him outside the Sahih, and Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Abu al Qasim al Baghawi narrated from him. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about him, “What do you say about Abu Thawr.”

He said, “I have known him upon the Sunnah for 50 years, and he is with me at the level of Sufyan al Thawri.” Ibn Hibban said, “He was one of the imams of this life in fiqh, knowledge, waraʿ, virtue, goodness, and good.” He died in 237 AH. (This biography is summarised from Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/74.) (He is the hadith preserver Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Hibban al Busti. He was among the jurists of religion and the preservers of reports, and he was knowledgeable in medicine and stars. He authored al Musnad al Sahih. He died in 354 AH.)

The third is al Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al Sabbah al Baghdadi, Imam Abu ʿAli al Zaʿfarani. He was a great imam, a jurist, a hadith scholar, eloquent, reliable, and firm. Al Mawardi said, “He is the firmest narrator of the old view.”

Ahmad, Abu Thawr, and al Karabisi heard the books read on al Shafiʿi by his reading. Al Zaʿfarani heard from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, al Shafiʿi, ʿUbaydah ibn Humayd, ʿAbd al Wahhab al Thaqafi, Yazid ibn Harun, and others. Al Bukhari, Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, al Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah narrated from him. He died in Ramadan in 260 AH.

The fourth is al Husayn ibn ʿAli ibn Yazid, Abu ʿAli al Karabisi. He was a great imam who combined fiqh and hadith. He first studied under the fiqh of the people of opinion, then he studied under al Shafiʿi and heard hadith from him, and from Yazid ibn Harun, Ishaq al Azraq, and others.

Abu ʿAli was among the Sunni theologians, an imam in theology, and also an imam in hadith and fiqh. He was called al Karabisi in relation to karabis, which are thick clothes that he used to sell. He died in 284 AH.

This is a summary of his second stay in Baghdad, what effects it had, what knowledge he spread, and the mujtahids he produced, such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Thawr, and others among the strongest ulama.

His Third Journey to Iraq

It has already been mentioned that al Shafiʿi stayed in his second journey to Baghdad for about 2 years. He established his madhhab there, made its rules firm, and prepared from his students pillars who spread his knowledge and defended it.

Then he returned to Makkah, stayed with his circle, gave glad tidings of his madhhab, spread his knowledge, and called to his foundations and rules. He did not stay long in Makkah before his longing for Baghdad pulled him.

So he returned to it in 198 AH, and it was said in 199 AH. He stayed about 8 months, and it was said 1 month. Al Hasan ibn Muhammad al Zaʿfarani said, “Al Shafiʿi came to us in 195 AH and stayed with us 2 years, then he went out to Makkah. Then he came to us in 198 AH and stayed with us months, then he went out to Egypt.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 72.)

So his stay in Baghdad this time was not long. It seems he only came to look after his great tree that he planted in Baghdad, which the ulama and hadith scholars took shade under, and which became safety for them from the dominance of opinion and desire.

Nothing new is reported from al Shafiʿi in this third journey beyond what he had already founded and made firm in the second journey.

In this arrival, his student al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi wanted to read his books to him. He said to him, “Do you permit me to read the books to you.” He refused and said, “Take the books of al Zaʿfarani, because I have permitted them for you.” So he took them by permission.

His Journey to Egypt

The Reason for This Journey

Al Shafiʿi returned to Makkah after his third journey to Baghdad in 198 AH and stayed there a short time, until Allah made it possible for him to go out to Egypt.

The reason for his coming to Egypt is that al ʿAbbas ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al ʿAbbas ibn Musa ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas took him with him, and he went with him, and this al ʿAbbas was a deputy for his father ʿAbd Allah over Egypt. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/321.)

They differed about the year he arrived in Egypt. The most common view is that it was 199 AH, as Harmalah ibn Yahya said. It was said 200 AH, as al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said. Al Nawawi said, “Perhaps he arrived at the end of 199 AH, bringing the 2 reports together.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/48.) (al Majmuʿ, 1/16.) (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/566.) It was also said 201 AH. (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/566.)

He stayed with his maternal uncles from al Azd. It was narrated from Yasin ibn ʿAbd al Ahad, he said, “When al Shafiʿi came to Egypt, my grandfather came to him, and I was with him. He asked him to stay with him, but he refused and said, ‘I want to stay with my maternal uncles, al Azd.’” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 77.)

It was said that he stayed with ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, and perhaps he first stayed with al Azd, then ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam invited him to stay with him, and he accepted. In Sirat ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz, in the biography of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, the narrator of the book, it says: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam was a friend of Imam al Shafiʿi, and he stayed with him when he came to Egypt.

He treated him well, honoured his stay, and reached the highest level of kindness to him. He gave him 1,000 dinars from his wealth, and he took for him from his cousin, the merchant, 1,000 dinars, and from 2 other companions 1,000 dinars. He wrote his books for himself and his son, and he attached his son Muhammad to him.

He continued with his kindness and honouring until Imam al Shafiʿi died with him. Then he buried him in their graveyard, known then as Turbat Banu ʿAbd al Hakam. (Sirat ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz, edited by Ahmad ʿUbayd, page 19.)

This Journey Is Not Less in Value Than His Second Journey to Iraq

If al Shafiʿi’s second journey to Iraq was his most fruitful and most beneficial, then his journey to Egypt is not less than it, and it may even be more beneficial, more abundant, and more lasting. However, the earlier one has precedence. In Iraq, his work in foundations appeared in his book al Risalah, and in branches and their proofs and debates he authored Kitab al Hujjah.

When he came to Egypt, he reviewed al Risalah and renewed its writing. The Risalah that people have is the Risalah authored in Egypt, and its discussion will come. He also reviewed Kitab al Hujjah and authored in its place Kitab al Umm, which is a collection of many new books that al Shafiʿi authored in Egypt, and it is the well known work in our time.

When it is said in the Shafiʿi madhhab “the old view,” it refers to his Iraqi positions gathered in Kitab al Hujjah. When it is said “the new view,” it refers to his Egyptian positions gathered in Kitab al Umm.

Al Nawawi said: he produced books that none before him produced, such as usul al fiqh, Kitab al Qasamah, Kitab al Jizyah, Kitab Qital Ahl al Baghy, and others.

What This Journey Added to His Madhhab

It is not correct that he changed all his positions or most of them. Rather, he changed some of them, and there is no blame upon him in that.

A mujtahid who is sincere in seeking the truth follows the truth wherever it goes. It is natural that an imam like al Shafiʿi, with his intelligence, intellect, and understanding, and with his great store of proofs, the statements of the Companions and those after them, the fatwas of the ulama, and the proofs of all of them, would compare, weigh, leave a view he used to hold, return to what he did not hold before, or come with a new view. Al Shafiʿi is not unique in that among the mujtahids.

The 3 imams, Abu Hanifah, Malik, and Ahmad, and others, often held a view, then another view became firm for them by report or by careful thinking, so they returned from the first, and the narrators of the madhhab often transmit 2 narrations or more in a single issue from their imam.

People Turning to Him and the Testimonies of the Ulama About Him

When al Shafiʿi came to Egypt, the common madhhab there was the madhhab of Malik, and a small number of ulama were upon the madhhab of Abu Hanifah. It did not take long for people to turn to him. They listened to him, loved him, and were taken by him. Harun ibn Saʿid al Ayli said, “I did not see anyone like al Shafiʿi come to us in Egypt. It was said, ‘A man from Quraysh has come.’

We came to him while he was praying. We did not see a more beautiful prayer than his, nor a more beautiful face. When he spoke, we did not see better speech than his, and we were taken by him.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 59.) (He is Harun ibn Saʿid ibn al Haytham al Tamimi al Saʿdi, their freedman. He narrated from Ibn Wahb and Anas ibn ʿIyad and a group. Muslim, Abu Dawud, and al Nasa’i narrated from him. He was graded reliable. He died in 253 AH.)

He continued among them spreading his foundations, views, and fiqh, extracting rulings and supporting them with proofs, until people gathered around him, took his views, followed his madhhab, and the ulama came to him and wrote from him, and moved to his ijtihad.

Fair minded opponents of his madhhab testified to his knowledge and strong extraction. ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, the leading Maliki in Egypt, said, “I did not see anyone like al Shafiʿi, and I did not see a man better than him in extracting rulings.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

His son Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said: my father said to me, “My son, stay with this man. I have not seen anyone with deeper insight than him in the foundations of fiqh,” or he said, “in the foundations of knowledge.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 56.)

He did stay with him, reached him before the ulama, and grew under his hands until his strength grew and his proof became strong. He said, “If it were not for al Shafiʿi, I would not have known how to reply to anyone. Through him I knew what I knew. He is the one who taught me analogy. May Allah have mercy on him.

He was a person of Sunnah and report and virtue and goodness, with a clear, long tongue, and a sound, firm intellect.” (al Intiqa’, 73.)

He also said, “So and so is not a jurist with us just because he gathers the statements of people and chooses some of them.”

It was said, “So who is the jurist.” He said, “The one who extracts a foundation from a Qur’an verse or a Sunnah that no one before him reached, then he branches from that foundation into 100 branches.” It was said, “Who can do this.” He said, “Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

ʿAli ibn Maʿbad al Misri said, “We did not know hadith until al Shafiʿi came to us.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

His mention spread and filled the lands. People came from every region to study fiqh under him, narrate from him, and hear his books from him. Al Nawawi said, “His mention spread in the lands, and people came to him from al Sham, Yemen, Iraq, and all directions and regions, to study fiqh under him, narrate from him, hear his books from him, and take them from him. He became the leader of the people of Egypt and others.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/48.)

Al Humaydi said, “When al Shafiʿi went out from Makkah to Egypt, and we lost him himself, we went out behind him to Egypt.” (al Intiqa’, 89.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Warah when he came from Egypt, “Did you write the books of al Shafiʿi.” He said, “No.” He said, “You missed out.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 60.)

Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Warah al Razi said, “I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal and I said, ‘What books should I look into so that the reports open for me. The view of Malik, or al Thawri, or al Awzaʿi.’ He said to me a statement too great for me to mention. He said, ‘Stick to al Shafiʿi, for he is the most correct of them,’ or ‘the most following of reports,’ and the doubt is from me.

I said to Ahmad, ‘What do you think about the books of al Shafiʿi, the ones with the Iraqis, or the ones in Egypt, which are more beloved to you.’ He said, ‘Stick to the books he wrote in Egypt. He wrote those books in Iraq and did not make them firm, then he returned to Egypt and made those books firm.’

When I heard that from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and I had previously decided to go out to the region and people spoke about it, I left that and decided to return to Egypt.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 60.)

His Position Toward the Madhhab of Malik

The turning to al Shafiʿi reached its highest point, in the lands generally and in Egypt especially. So what was the position of the Malikis toward al Shafiʿi, and they were the majority of the jurists of Egypt, or what was al Shafiʿi’s position toward the madhhab of Malik which was dominant in Egypt?

It is known that al Shafiʿi did not honour anyone among his shaykhs the way he honoured Imam Malik, then after him Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah. He did not see anyone with a favour upon him like Malik. He used to say, admitting his virtue, “Malik ibn Anas is my teacher. From him we learned knowledge.

When the ulama are mentioned, Malik is the star. No one was safer for me than Malik, and from him I took knowledge.” (Tartib al Madarik, 385.) He said, “I am only a young student of Malik.” (Tartib al Madarik, 385.) He said, “I made Malik a proof between me and Allah.” Some of that has already passed.

In Baghdad, al Shafiʿi opposed the people of opinion, debated their imams, and authored in refuting their books. Yet his position toward Malik was the position of a student who honours his teacher. It was said that all of al Shafiʿi’s old views were the madhhab of Malik. (al Wafi bi al Wafayat.)

This is clearly an exaggeration. Al Shafiʿi in Baghdad was a fully independent mujtahid and did not bind himself to the view of anyone, but he did not openly declare opposition to Imam Malik.

When he came to Egypt, and he saw from the followers of Malik that they would not accept except his statement, even if the proof became weak in some of it, he openly declared opposition, and he replied against the Malikis.

He used to say, “I came to Egypt and I did not know that Malik opposed any of his hadith except 16 hadith. Then I looked, and I found that he holds to the foundation and leaves the branch, and he holds to the branch and leaves the foundation.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 76.)

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said, “Al Shafiʿi did not stop holding the view of Malik and did not oppose him except as some of his companions oppose him, until Fityan spoke harshly against him. That carried him to what he authored against Malik. Otherwise, he used to, throughout his life, when asked about something, say, ‘This is the view of the teacher.’” (Tartib al Madarik, 385.) (He is Fityan ibn Abi al Samh, and his name is ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi al Samh, Abu al Khiyar. He was among the major companions of Malik who were very partisan for his madhhab. A debate occurred between him and al Shafiʿi. He had haste and harshness in speech. Because of his partisanship for Malik and his excess in it, hostility began between the Malikis and the Shafiʿis in Egypt. He died in 205 AH.)

It was said that he said, “I only returned to my new views because when I entered Egypt, it reached me that in al Maghrib there is a cap from the caps of Malik that people seek rain by, so I feared that time would go on and people would believe about him what was believed about al Masih, so I showed opposition to him so that people would know he is a mujtahid imam who can be correct and can be mistaken.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 1/177.)

He used to say, “I asked Allah for guidance in that for 1 year.” The truth is that al Shafiʿi did not oppose his shaykh Malik for this reason or that one. He opposed him, and authored in refuting some of his views a book, seeking the truth and following the stronger proof and the clearer evidence.

What the Malikis feared most was that al Shafiʿi, with his clarity, proof, and fiqh, would take control in Egypt and spread his madhhab, and by that remove the madhhab of Malik. This thought angered Ashhab, and he was among the major Maliki shaykhs in Egypt, so he began making duʿa’ against al Shafiʿi while in sujud, and he said:

“O Allah, cause al Shafiʿi to die, otherwise the knowledge of Malik will go.”

(Tartib al Madarik, 453.)

That reached al Shafiʿi, so he began saying:

“Men wished that I would die, but if I die, that is a path, and I am not alone in it.

So say to the one who seeks the opposite of what has passed: prepare for another like it, as if it has already come.”

Then al Shafiʿi died, and Ashhab bought from his estate a servant who was a cook, and he died 18 days after him.

Ashhab’s anger, which made him make duʿa’ in his sujud against al Shafiʿi, is enough to show the great effect al Shafiʿi had even on the Malikis, with the knowledge, proof, and clarity he was given. He controlled their minds and kept them busy with his fiqh over the fiqh of others.

Al Rabiʿ said, “He, meaning al Shafiʿi, asked me about the people of Egypt before he entered Egypt, so I said, ‘They are 2 groups: a group leans to the view of Malik and fights for it, and a group leans to the view of Abu Hanifah and fights for it.’ He said, ‘I hope to come to Egypt, Allah willing, and bring them something that keeps them busy away from both views.’ Al Rabiʿ said, ‘By Allah, he did that when he entered Egypt.’”

Only Allah knows what would have happened if Allah had extended al Shafiʿi’s life in Egypt beyond 4 years.

It must be certain that al Shafiʿi’s goal was not simply to keep people busy away from both views. The goal was to lead people upon a clear path with strong proofs. Because of this, the Malikis remained quiet about him as long as he did not openly oppose Malik. When he authored in opposing him and refuting his views, they went with him to the ruler and said to him, “Remove him from us, otherwise the land will be tested.”

He intended that, then al Shafiʿi and the Hashimis came to him and spoke to him, but he insisted. He said, “These people dislike him, and I fear fitnah.”

Al Shafiʿi said to him, “Give me 3 days.” So he gave him 3 days.

Then the governor died suddenly on the 3rd night, and al Shafiʿi was spared his matter, so al Shafiʿi remained until he died. (Tawali al Ta’sis, 84.) (This is what is correct: the governor is the one who died during the period, not al Shafiʿi, as stated in Tartib al Madarik in the biography of Fityan.)

The Malikis did not stop seeking harm against the companions of al Shafiʿi with the ruler even after his death.

Al Buwayti said, “When al Shafiʿi died, a group of his companions gathered in his place, and the companions of Malik began seeking harm against us with the ruler, until only I remained and a freedman of al Shafiʿi.

Then after that we began gathering again and joining together, then they would seek harm against us until we separated. I paid about 1,000 dinars until our companions returned and we joined together again.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 84.)

His Study Circle in Egypt and Its Variety of Sciences

Al Shafiʿi would pray Fajr in the masjid, then go to his gathering there. Students of every type would come to him, and the circle would form around him. The people of the Qur’an would begin with him. When the sun rose, the people of hadith would come. They would continue, along with the people of careful thinking and the people of Arabic, until near midday, then he would leave. This was reported by al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/304.)

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said:

Al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, would sit in his circle after praying Fajr. The people of the Qur’an would come to him. When the sun rose, they would stand, and the people of hadith would come.

They would ask him about its explanation and its meanings. When the sun rose higher, they would stand, and the circle would be set for discussion and careful thinking. When mid morning rose, they would disperse, and the people of Arabic, prosody, grammar, and poetry would come. They would remain until near midday, then he would leave, may Allah be pleased with him. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/304.)

Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said: “We have not seen anyone like al Shafiʿi. The people of hadith and their critics would come to him and present matters to him. At times he would declare a flaw in what their own critics had criticised, and he would make them stop at subtle matters in transmitting hadith that they had not reached. They would stand up in amazement.

The people of fiqh, both those who agreed and those who differed, would come to him, and they would not leave except while submitting to him in skill and deep understanding. The people of literature would come and read poetry to him, and he would explain it. He used to memorise 10,000 lines from the poetry of Hudhayl, with their grammatical forms, their rare words, and their meanings.

He was among the most precise of people in history. Two things helped him, a great intellect and a sound mind. The core of his affair was sincerity in work for Allah.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 59.)

Al Karabisi said: “I have never seen a gathering more noble than the gathering of al Shafiʿi. The people of hadith, the people of fiqh, and the people of poetry would attend it. The leading people of language and poetry would come to him, and each would speak from his side.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

His Students in Egypt

Those who benefited from the knowledge of al Shafiʿi cannot be counted. In Egypt, there was almost no place into which the knowledge of al Shafiʿi did not enter. But those who stayed with him, took his fiqh, followed his madhhab, and were pleased with his way are well known. The ulama of biography, history, and translation mentioned them, and the books of fiqh often mention them when discussing disagreement and transmission.

Four of them are mentioned here: al Buwayti, al Muzani, al Rabiʿ al Muradi, and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. Each of them has a standing that should be mentioned in the life of al Shafiʿi.

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: “We entered upon al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with him, at his death: myself, al Buwayti, al Muzani, and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. Al Shafiʿi looked at us for a while and prolonged it, then turned to us and said: ‘As for you, Abu Yaʿqub, you will die in iron.

As for you, Muzani, there will be slips and slips for you in Egypt, and you will reach a time in which you will be the most skilled in analogy among the people of that time. As for you, Muhammad, you will return to the madhhab of your father. As for you, Rabiʿ, you will be the most beneficial of them to me in spreading the books. Stand, Abu Yaʿqub, and take charge of the circle.’” Al Rabiʿ said: “So it was as he said.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/94.)

As for al Buwayti, he is Abu Yaʿqub Yusuf ibn Yahya, from Buwayt in Upper Egypt. He was the greatest of al Shafiʿi’s Egyptian companions. He was a great imam, a worshipper, a zahid, a mighty jurist, and a strong debater, among the mountains of knowledge and religion.

He studied fiqh under al Shafiʿi and devoted himself to his companionship. Abu ʿAsim said: al Shafiʿi used to rely on al Buwayti in issuing fatwas, and he appointed him over his companions after his death.

Imams emerged under his hands, they spread across lands, and they spread the knowledge of al Shafiʿi across the horizons.

Al Rabiʿ said: Abu Yaʿqub held a strong place with al Shafiʿi. A man would sometimes ask him about an issue, and he would say: “Ask Abu Yaʿqub.” When he answered, he would tell him, and he would say: “It is as he said.” He has a book called al Mukhtasar, which he abridged from the words of al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with him. Abu ʿAsim said: it is extremely fine.

He was struck by a trial in which he perished in prison. Someone who envied him informed against him and wrote about him to Ibn Abi Duʾad in Iraq, so he wrote to the governor of Egypt to test him, meaning with the claim that the Qur’an is created. He was tested and did not answer.

The governor had a good opinion of him, so he said to him, “Between me and you.” He said, “He is followed by 100,000, and they do not know the meaning.” He ordered that he be carried to Baghdad in 40 ratls of iron, and he died in the prison of Baghdad in shackles and chains in 231 AH.

As for al Muzani, he is Abu Ibrahim Ismaʿil ibn Yahya, the defender of the madhhab and the full moon of its sky. He was a mountain of knowledge, a debater, a strong arguer. Al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with him, said about him: “If the devil debated him, he would defeat him.” He was a zahid, a man of waraʿ, and one who took little from the dunya. Al Shafiʿi said: “Al Muzani is the defender of my madhhab.”

He authored many books, including al Jamiʿ al Kabir, al Jamiʿ al Saghir, al Mukhtasar, al Manthur, al Masa’il al Muʿtabarah, and others.

Many people took from al Muzani, from the ulama of Khurasan, Iraq, and al Sham. He died with 6 nights remaining of Ramadan in 264 AH.

As for al Rabiʿ, he is Abu Muhammad al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman al Muradi, their freedman, the mu’adhdhin.

He was born in 174 AH. He entered the service of al Shafiʿi, carried much from him, and narrated much from him. He was reliable and firm in what he narrated. He was the mu’adhdhin in the congregational masjid in Fustat of Egypt, known as the Masjid of ʿAmr ibn al ʿAs. Al Shafiʿi loved him. He was the narrator of his books. He died 20 nights into Shawwal in 270 AH.

As for Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, he is Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. He was born in 182 AH. Al Shafiʿi stayed with his father when he came to Egypt.

He was a great scholar, respected and influential, among the shaykhs of the Malikis in Egypt. His father attached his son Muhammad to al Shafiʿi so that he could study fiqh through him, but he left the madhhab and returned to his Maliki path because of a disagreement with al Buwayti about who would succeed al Shafiʿi. The discussion of that will come in the section on who succeeded him. He died in the middle of Dhu al Qaʿdah in 268 AH.

His Successor in His Study Circle in Egypt

Al Shafiʿi left behind students in Egypt, and some of them reached the level of imamah in knowledge, especially the 4 mentioned above. Each of them was worthy of being his successor.

But al Shafiʿi used to single out Abu Yaʿqub al Buwayti with extra care and trust. He relied on him for fatwas, and he would refer questions to him when an issue came to him. Al Rabiʿ said: a messenger of the chief of police would sometimes come to al Shafiʿi seeking a fatwa, and al Shafiʿi would point him to Abu Yaʿqub al Buwayti and say: “This is my tongue.”

When al Shafiʿi fell into the illness of his death, he wanted a successor for himself and for the madhhab, someone who would teach people, spread the madhhab, and defend it. So he sent to his companion and student from Makkah, Abu Bakr al Humaydi, to announce that the circle belongs to Abu Yaʿqub al Buwayti. Whoever wished could sit, and whoever wished could leave. (Tawali al Ta’sis, 84.)

It is also narrated from al Rabiʿ that al Buwayti and Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam disputed about the circle during the illness of al Shafiʿi, and he was informed of it, so he said: “The circle is for al Buwayti.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/164.)

The succession of al Buwayti to the circle of al Shafiʿi did not pass peacefully. It led to dispute and bitterness between him and Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam after al Shafiʿi’s death. Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, who surpassed his peers in intelligence, knowledge, status, and wealth, and whose father hosted al Shafiʿi, honoured him, and gave him love and respect, saw that he had more right to succeed al Shafiʿi than anyone else.

Abu Jaʿfar al Sukri said: Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam and al Buwayti disputed over the seat of al Shafiʿi. Al Buwayti said: “I have more right to it than you.” The other said the same. Then al Humaydi came, and he was in Egypt in those days, and he said: “Al Shafiʿi said: no one has more right to my seat than Yusuf,” meaning al Buwayti, “and none of my companions is more knowledgeable than him.”

Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said to him: “You have lied.” He said to him: “You have lied, and so have your father and your mother.” Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam became angry. Al Buwayti sat in the seat of al Shafiʿi, and Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam sat in the third arch. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/163.)

It was not long before he left the Shafiʿi madhhab and returned to the madhhab of Malik, the madhhab of his father. Then his situation reached the point that he authored a book and named it “Refutation of al Shafiʿi in What He Opposed of the Book and the Sunnah.”

Even if he had the right to reply to whom he wished when he thought he had erred, he did not have the right to name his book with this ugly title, when al Shafiʿi was his teacher, and through him he learned analogy, proof, evidence, and debate with opponents.

He used to teach me archery every day,
then when my arm grew strong, he shot at me.

How often I taught him composing rhymes,
then when he produced a rhyme, he attacked me.

After this work, he was struck by a difficult trial when he was called to the claim that the Qur’an is created, and it did not leave him except with great harm. (If desired, this trial can be read in Tartib al Madarik by al Qadi ʿIyad.)

How wise al Shafiʿi was in appointing al Buwayti as successor. Imams emerged under his hands, they spread across lands, and they spread the knowledge of al Shafiʿi across the horizons.

The Narrator of His Books

The companions of al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, agreed that the most reliable narrator of al Shafiʿi’s books was his companion and servant al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman al Muradi, the mu’adhdhin. (This was mentioned earlier among the students of al Shafiʿi.)

They even differed between him and Abu Ibrahim al Muzani in a narration, and the companions preferred the narration of al Rabiʿ, despite the high rank of Abu Ibrahim in knowledge and religion, and the agreement of what he narrated with the established principles. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/132.)

Yahya ibn Maʿin, when asked about who should write the books of al Shafiʿi, said: “Al Rabiʿ.” (He is Yahya ibn Maʿin ibn ʿAwn, among the imams of hadith. Al Dhahabi described him as the master of the hadith preservers. Al ʿAsqalani said: the imam of criticism and accreditation. He died in 233 AH.)

Because of this trust, people travelled from far lands to him for the books of al Shafiʿi. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Sufyan al Tara’ifi al Baghdadi said: “I attended al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman one day, and 900 mounts had been set down at the door of his house for hearing the books of al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/48.)

And al Rabiʿ was as al Shafiʿi had foretold about him, in what is narrated: “You are the narrator of my books.”

Despite his gentle nature and his heedlessness, they agreed that he was reliable and firm. The Imam of the imams Ibn Khuzaymah included him in his Sahih, and so did Ibn Hibban and al Hakim. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/134.)

Ibn Abi Hatim said: “We heard from him, and he is truthful.” His father was asked about him and he said: “Truthful.” Al Khalil said in al Irshad: “Reliable, agreed upon.”

His Ribaat at the Frontier of Alexandria

The way of the working ulama and the imams who are followed is that they rush before others to fulfil the communal duties. Among them is ribaat at the frontier posts, meaning the places where an enemy attack is feared against a Muslim land. Ribaat is jihad in the path of Allah, even if it is not direct battle.

The believer feels that jihad is an obligation that must not be neglected. So ribaat in the path of Allah became a sign of the ulama, the people of taqwa, the righteous, and the pious.

Imam al Shafiʿi fulfilled this duty, as many of the great ulama before him did. He went out to Alexandria for ribaat, despite his illness and weakness.

Al Rabiʿ said: “I went out with al Shafiʿi from Fustat to Alexandria for ribaat. He would pray the 5 prayers in the congregational masjid, then go to the watch post, face the sea while seated, and read the Qur’an. In Ramadan, I counted for him in a day and a night 60 complete readings.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 59.)

Al Shafiʿi’s Illness and Death

The Illness That He Died From

The illness of haemorrhoids appeared in al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, while he was in Egypt. He used to think that this illness arose because of his use of frankincense. He used to use it for memorisation. Al Shafiʿi said: “I used frankincense for memorisation, and it caused bleeding for 1 year.” (Shadharāt al Dhahab, 2/9.)

Because of this illness, the bleeding did not stop. Sometimes he would ride and blood would flow from his heels. The basin would remain under him, with a stuffed pad in it. No one endured illness the way he endured it. (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/276.) Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: “I have not seen anyone who faced illness the way al Shafiʿi faced it.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/65.)

The astonishing matter, rather it almost appears beyond what is expected, is that this was the state of al Shafiʿi, and yet in 4 years, all of it illness, he produced from his new ijtihad what fills thousands of pages, while continuing lessons, research, debates, and reading through the night and day. This constant labour and activity in knowledge and research was his only remedy.

It was said that the cause of his death was another matter. There was in Egypt a man from the companions of Malik ibn Anas named Fityan. He had haste and recklessness. He debated al Shafiʿi often, and people gathered around them. They debated one day about the issue of selling “the free man,” meaning the mortgaged slave whom the mortgagor frees while he has no wealth besides him.

Al Shafiʿi answered that it is permissible to sell him, according to one of his views. Fityan forbade it, because the emancipation is carried through in every case, and that is also one of the views of al Shafiʿi. Al Shafiʿi overcame him in argument. Fityan became constricted by that and insulted al Shafiʿi with ugly insult. Al Shafiʿi did not reply with a single word, and continued the discussion of the issue.

Someone raised this to al Sari, so he summoned al Shafiʿi, questioned him, and pressed him. Al Shafiʿi informed him of what happened, and witnesses testified against Fityan. Al Sari said: “If another man like al Shafiʿi testified against Fityan, I would strike his neck.” He ordered that Fityan be lashed and paraded on a camel, and a caller in front of him would call: “This is the punishment of the one who insults the family of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Then a group who supported Fityan from the foolish people went to the circle of al Shafiʿi until it became empty of his companions and he remained alone. They attacked him and struck him. He was carried to his home, and he remained ill until he died. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/322.) (Fityan ibn Abi al Samh has already been mentioned earlier.) (Al Sari ibn al Hakam ibn Yusuf was a governor. He was bold and violent, with cunning. His origin was from Khurasan. He ruled Egypt in 200 AH. Some commanders removed him in 301 AH, then al Maʾmun returned him, and he remained in authority until he died in 305 AH. He used to honour al Shafiʿi and give him precedence over others.)

Ibn Hajar said:

It became widely known that the cause of al Shafiʿi’s death was that Fityan ibn Abi al Samh al Misri debated al Shafiʿi, then a harsh act came from Fityan, so it was raised to the governor of Egypt. He summoned him and disciplined him, so he held hatred because of that. He met al Shafiʿi at night and struck him with an iron key and wounded him in the head, and al Shafiʿi remained ill from it until he died.

Ibn Hajar said: “I have not seen that from a dependable route.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 86.)

If this incident were true, it would show the evil of madhhab partisanship, when a person does not care to take a life that cannot be matched by the earth full of noble lives. As for vile lives, they and the refuse of the earth are equal. It is wished that this incident is not true. It is comforting that Ibn Hajar did not trust this report and did not see it coming from a dependable route.

In His Final Moments

Whatever the cause, illness pressed upon al Shafiʿi, bleeding frightened him, sickness melted him, and death stood at his door waiting for the end of the term. In this state, at the end of his worldly life and the beginning of the next life, his student al Muzani entered upon him and said: “How have you become?”

He said: “I have become departing from the dunya, separating from brothers, drinking the cup of death, and arriving upon Allah, exalted is His mention. By Allah, I do not know whether my being will go to Paradise so I can congratulate it, or to the Fire so I can console it.” Then he cried and began to say:

When my heart hardened and my paths narrowed,
I made hope in Your pardon a ladder for myself.
My sin seemed huge to me, but when I compared it
with Your pardon, my Lord, Your pardon was greater.
You have always been one who pardons sin,
giving generously and pardoning, as a favour and as honour.

(Sifat al Safwah, 2/146.)

In that state as well, Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla entered upon him. Al Shafiʿi said to him: “Abu Musa, read to me from what comes after 120 from Al ʿImran, and make the reading light, and do not weigh it down.” I read to him. When I wanted to stand, he said: “Do not be absent from me, for I am distressed.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 76.)

Yunus said: al Shafiʿi intended in my reading what comes after 120, what the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions faced, or similar. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 76.)

Harmalah said: al Shafiʿi said to me: “Go to Idris the worshipper and tell him to ask Allah, mighty and majestic, for me.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 83.)

Al Rabiʿ said: when it was near Maghrib, his cousin said to him: “Should we stop so we can pray?” He said: “Will you sit watching my soul leave?” So we stopped, then we went on, and we said: “Did you pray?” He said: “Yes.” He asked for a drink, and it was winter. His cousin said: “Mix it with warmed water.” Al Shafiʿi said: “No, rather with quince syrup.” He died after ʿIsha. (Tawali al Ta’sis, 84.)

The Date of His Death

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: al Shafiʿi died on the night of Friday after ʿIsha, the last day of Rajab. We buried him on Friday, then we returned and we saw the crescent of Shaʿban in 204 AH, at the age of 54 years. This is the well known view among most narrators regarding his age. (Sifat al Safwah, 2/147.) (Adab al Shafiʿi, 26.)

Ibn Hibban said: the last of Rabiʿ al Awwal, but what has been stated is more correct, as in Adab al Shafiʿi.

Abu ʿUthman, the son of al Shafiʿi, said: my father died at the age of 58 years. (al Intiqa’ by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr, 102.)

His Funeral and Burial

When he was carried to his final resting place, he was carried on shoulders from Fustat of Egypt to the cemetery of Banu Zuhrah, also known as the graveyard of Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. (Taj al ʿArus, entry “shafaʿ”.)

In Muʿjam al Udaba’ it says: he was buried west of the trench in the cemeteries of Quraysh. Around him are a group from Banu Zuhrah, from the descendants of ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAwf and others. His grave is well known there, agreed upon as authentic, carried by later generations from earlier generations, in every age until this time.

It is the northern grave of the 3 graves that share a single raised platform, west of the trench. Between it and the shrine are the other 2 graves next to the grave of al Shafiʿi: the grave of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, who died in 214 AH, and the grave of his son ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, who died in 257 AH. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/321.)

Al Nawawi said about his grave: “His grave, may Allah have mercy on him, is in Egypt. It has dignity and respect that suits the rank of that imam.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/46.)

A Notable Story About an Attempt to Move His Body

The most striking story about an attempt to move the body of Imam al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with him, to Baghdad is what al Maqrizi narrated in his Khitat. He said, with its wording:

Among the most remarkable matters narrated in his merits is that the vizier Nizam al Mulk Abu ʿAli al Hasan ibn ʿAli ibn Ishaq, when he built the Nizamiyyah school in Baghdad in 474 AH, wished to move the body of Imam al Shafiʿi from his cemetery in Egypt to his school. He wrote to the commander of armies Badr al Jamali, the vizier of the caliph al Mustansir, asking him for that. He sent him a great gift.

The commander of armies rode out in his procession, with the leading men of the state and the notable people of Egypt among the ulama and others. People gathered to see him. When they opened the grave, that grieved the people.

They surged, noise increased, voices rose, and they intended to stone the commander and rise against him. He silenced them and sent to inform the caliph, the commander of the believers, al Mustansir, of the situation. The response came: to carry out what Nizam al Mulk wanted. His letter was read to the people at the grave. The common crowd and the rabble were driven away from around it.

Digging took place until they reached the niche. When they intended to remove the bricks upon it, a fragrant scent came out from the niche and overcame those present above the grave, until they fell unconscious. They did not regain consciousness except after an hour. They sought forgiveness for what they had done.

They put the grave back as it was and returned. It was a day remembered among the days. People crowded to visit the grave of al Shafiʿi for 40 days and nights. Because of the crowding, one could not reach it except with hardship and extra difficulty.

The commander of armies wrote a record of what occurred and sent it with a great gift and his letter to Nizam al Mulk. This record and letter were read in the Nizamiyyah school in Baghdad while the scholars, of all ranks, gathered to hear it.

It was a day witnessed in Baghdad. Nizam al Mulk wrote to the people of the lands of the east, from the borders of the Euphrates to beyond the river, informing them of it, and he sent with his letters the record and the letter of the commander of armies. They were read in all those realms. The rank of Imam al Shafiʿi rose among all people of the regions and all people of the cities because of that.

Then al Maqrizi said: the grave of al Shafiʿi continued to be visited and people sought blessing there until Sunday, 7 days into Jumada al Ula in 608 AH. The building of this dome over his grave was completed on that day.

It was built by al Malik al Kamil al Muẓaffar al Mansur, Abu al Maʿali Nasir al Din Muhammad, son of al Sultan al Malik al ʿAdil. The cost of it reached 50,000 Egyptian dinars.

He said: poetry was said about the dome, including the words of the writer Diya’ al Din Abu al Fath Musa ibn Mulhim:

I passed by the dome of al Shafiʿi,
and my eyes saw upon it the large ships.
I said to my companions: do not be amazed,
for ships are upon seas.

And ʿAla’ al Din Abu ʿAli ʿUthman ibn Ibrahim al Nabulsi said:

Imam al Shafiʿi has become among us
one whose madhhab has a clear place.
If he were not a sea of knowledge, it would not be
that a ship is upon his grave.

And a poet said, pointing to his grave:

I came to visit the grave of al Shafiʿi,
and I found before it a sky, and at it a sea.
I said: exalted is Allah, that is a sign,
a sign that the sea is held within the grave.

This is the end of what al Maqrizi narrated.

In Taj al ʿArus it says: a poet said, pointing to the grave of al Shafiʿi:

How noble is a man, none is like him,
a partner of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in lineage.
He became buried in Egypt in its Muqattam,
how excellent is the Muqattam, and the buried one in its soil.

Al Busiri said:

At the dome of the grave of al Shafiʿi is a ship
that has anchored, built firm, above a rock.
When the flood of the sciences sank at his grave,
the ark became level upon that shrine, upon al Judi.

People’s Grief at His Death

People were stunned by the death of al Shafiʿi. Sadness settled upon the faces of the ulama. The wings of his students were broken. His gathering became empty of the towering knowledge that used to move, search, and debate. The strongest expression of the people’s pain at losing him was a Bedouin who stood by the circle of al Shafiʿi shortly after his death and said:

“Where is the moon of this circle and its sun?”

We said: “He has died.” He cried heavily and said: “May Allah have mercy on him and forgive him. With his clarity, he used to open what was closed of proof. He used to block his opponent from the clear path. He used to wash away disgrace from blackened faces. He used to widen with sound judgement doors that had been shut.” Then he left. (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 1/177.)

Dreams Seen About Him

The truthful dreams that many worshippers, righteous people, ulama, and others saw pointed to the greatness of the matter and the weight of the loss, through the passing of one who represented the Sharia of the Chosen Prophet ﷺ, brought people near to its meanings, defended the Sunnah, and travelled its paths. Many dreams were narrated. Some are mentioned here, and some are as clear as daylight.

Al ʿAzizi, and he was a worshipper, said: I saw on the night al Shafiʿi died in a dream, it was as if it was being said: “The Prophet ﷺ died tonight.”

It was as if I saw him being washed in the gathering of ʿAbd al Rahman al Zuhri in the masjid. It was as if it was said to me: “He will be taken out after ʿAsr.”

I woke up and it was said to me: “Al Shafiʿi has died.” It was said to me: “He will be taken out after Friday.” I said: what I saw in the dream.

It was said to me: “He will be taken out after ʿAsr.” It was as if I saw in sleep, when he was taken out, that there was with him the bier of a woman, with a worn bier. The ruler of Egypt sent word that he should not be taken out except after ʿAsr, so he was taken out after ʿAsr. Al ʿAzizi said: I attended his funeral.

When I reached the wide place, I saw a bier, like the bier of that woman with the worn bier, along with his bier. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 73.)

Sufyan ibn Wakiʿ said: “I saw in a dream as if the Resurrection had risen and people were in a tremendous matter. Then my brother appeared to me. I said: ‘What is your state?’ He said: ‘We were presented before our Lord.’

I said: ‘What is the state of my father?’ He said: ‘He was forgiven and commanded to go to Paradise.’

I said: ‘And Muhammad ibn Idris?’ He said: ‘He was gathered to the Most Merciful as a delegation, clothed in garments of honour, and crowned with the crown of splendour.’” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/176.) (Sufyan ibn Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah al Ru’asi, Abu Muhammad al Kufi, narrated from Muttalib ibn Ziyad, and al Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah narrated from him. Al Bukhari said: they spoke about him. He died in 247 AH.)

Al Rabiʿ said: I saw in a dream that Adam, peace be upon him, died. I asked about that, and it was said: “This is the death of the most knowledgeable of the people of the earth, because Allah taught Adam all the names.” Then not long after, al Shafiʿi died. (al Majmuʿ, 1/15.)

He also said: I saw al Shafiʿi after his death in a dream. I said: “Abu ʿAbd Allah, what did Allah do with you?” He said: “He seated me on a chair of gold, and scattered upon me fresh pearls.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/147.)

Principles of Hadith

What is well known, and what the ulama of Islam have agreed upon, is that al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), may Allah have mercy on him, was the first to set down the science of the principles of jurisprudence. Yet only a few people know that he was also the first to set down what is called “the principles of hadith”, or what later scholars call “hadith terminology”. (Summarised from Tawali al Ta’sis, 21.)

He set down in this field many technical expressions that no one before him had used, such as his statement: “If a hadith is connected back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and its chain is sound, then it is Sunnah.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 232.)

And such as his statement: “The odd report in hadith is not that a trustworthy narrator reports a hadith that no one else reports. Rather, the odd report in hadith is that trustworthy narrators report a hadith, then one person departs from them and contradicts them.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 323.)

And such as his statement: “If the hadith scholar reads to you, then say: ‘He narrated to us.’ If you read to the hadith scholar, then say: ‘He informed us.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 99.)

And such as his statement: “The disconnected report is nothing, except the disconnected report of Ibn al Musayyab.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 232.) (What is meant by “disconnected” here is the report that is not linked to a Companion, meaning that someone other than a Companion says: “The Prophet said”, and he only made an exception for Ibn al Musayyab because he is reliable and only reports from a reliable person.)

He also had rare frankness and strength of religion in declaring narrators reliable or unreliable. He did not care who was pleased or who was angered.

It is narrated from Ahmad ibn Sirij that he heard al Shafiʿi say: “They say: ‘He is biased and flatters.’

If we were to flatter, we would have flattered al Zuhri, and the unlinked reporting of al Zuhri is nothing. That is because we find that he reported from Sulayman ibn Arqam.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 82.) (Al Zuhri is Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab from Banu Zuhrah, the first to compile hadith in writing, and one of the greatest preservers among the successors. He died in 124 AH.) (Sulayman ibn Arqam is Abu Muʿadh al Basri, agreed upon as weak.)

Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam narrated: I heard al Shafiʿi, and “Haram ibn ʿUthman” was mentioned to him, so he said: “Hadith from Haram ibn ʿUthman is unlawful.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 218.) (Haram is Haram ibn ʿUthman al Ansari al Madani. Malik and Yahya said: “He is not trustworthy.” Ibn Hibban said: he was extreme in Shiʿism and would overturn chains of transmission.)

Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam narrated that al Shafiʿi said: “Al Waqidi wrote lies.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 220.) (Al Dhahabi said: there is settled agreement upon his weakness.)

It is also narrated from him that al Shafiʿi said: “The narration is not established from Bashir ibn Nahik.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 220.) (Bashir ibn Nahik is Abu al Shaʿtha’ al Saluli al Basri, a successor, one of the narrators from Abu Hurayrah. Abu Hatim did not use his hadith as proof, while Ahmad, al Nasa’i, and al ʿIjli declared him reliable.)

Harmalah narrated: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “The hadith of Abu al ʿAliyah al Riyahi is winds.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 222.) (Abu al ʿAliyah is Rafiʿ ibn Mihran, a successor. He is trustworthy. As for al Shafiʿi’s words: “The hadith of Abu al ʿAliyah is winds”, he only meant his unlinked report about loud laughter. Al Shafiʿi’s madhhab is that unlinked reports are not a proof.)

Harmalah also narrated: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “Abu ʿAbd Allah al Jadali was good at striking with the sword. Dawud ibn Shabur was among the trustworthy. Al Rabiʿ ibn Subayh was one who went out often in military campaigns. If a man is praised outside his craft, then he is ruined.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 223.) (The meaning of “ruined” is: “his neck is broken.”) (Abu ʿAbd Allah al Jadali was a standard bearer for al Mukhtar. He was a Shiʿi whom many disliked, yet Ahmad declared him trustworthy.) (Dawud ibn Shabur ibn Sulayman al Makki narrated from Suwayd ibn Hujayr and Tawus. Shuʿbah and Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from him. Abu Zurʿah al Razi and Ibn Maʿin declared him trustworthy.)

(Al Rabiʿ ibn Subayh al Saʿdi, Abu Bakr al Basri, narrated from al Hasan and Ibn Sirin. Al Thawri and Wakiʿ narrated from him. Ahmad said: “No harm in him.” He died in 160 AH. The meaning of “one who went out often in military campaigns” is: one who went out frequently in military expeditions.)

In summary, the leading hadith scholars would come to him and discuss hadith reports that were difficult for them, and he would make clear what was difficult, and he would make them aware of hidden flaws.

They would stand up in amazement. No one disputes this except an ignorant person or someone pretending not to see. (This is the exact wording of al Suyuti in his book “Tadrib al Rawi” about al Shafiʿi.)

His Skill in Understanding the Prophetic Sunnah

Prophetic Sunnah has two sides: transmitting, and understanding.

Transmitting is the science that includes the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ and his actions, along with transmitting them, preserving them, and refining their wording.

Understanding is the science through which one knows the reality of transmission, its conditions, its types, and its rulings, along with the state of narrators and their conditions, and the types of transmitted reports and what relates to them.

Al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, mastered the craft of transmitting, and earlier indication of that has already been given. As for understanding, no one of his time matches him in it. His fiqh, his ijtihad, and his knowledge are all branches of his understanding.

What is meant here by his understanding is his skill in grasping the wording of the Prophetic Sunnah and what it points to, his knowledge of unusual expressions in hadith and unusual speech, his depth in reaching meanings that are hidden, his ability to derive rulings from fine indications in the Sunnah, and his ability to draw out proof from its wording and style. At times he would reach what even leading ulama and preservers did not notice.

In a debate between Ishaq ibn Rahawayh and al Shafiʿi, Ishaq said: “Perhaps I reflected upon what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Did ʿAqil leave any house or dwelling for us?’ and I realised that he understood what escaped us.” Ishaq said: “If I had reached this understanding while I was in his presence, I would have recognised it then. Then we looked into his books and found the man to be among the ulama of the ummah.” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/297.)

Because al Shafiʿi mastered Arabic, was skilled in it, lived among its people, and knew their customs and circumstances, he was the most perceptive of people in grasping what texts indicate. He used to say: “The people of Arabic are the unseen beings among humans. They see what others do not see.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 150.)

An example of that is his explanation of the words of the Prophet ﷺ: “Leave the birds in their places.” He said: “The knowledge of the Arabs was in: driving birds away to take omens, the passing birds, drawing lines, and seeking omens by birds.

So one of them, when he left his home wanting some matter, would look at the first bird he saw. If it passed from his left side and went to his right, he would say: ‘This is a bird of good fortune’, so he would go on with his need and think it would succeed.

If it passed from his right side and went to his left, he would say: ‘This is a bird of bad fortune’, so he would return and say: ‘This is an ill fated need.’” Al Hutay’ah said, praising Abu Musa al Ashʿari:

“He does not drive away birds for omens when they appear to him,
and he does not draw lots with arrows.”

Al Shafiʿi said: “In the pre Islamic era, if the Arabs did not see a passing bird, and they saw a bird in its nest, they would stir it from its place so it would fly, then they would look whether it took the path of bad fortune or the path of good fortune.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 150.) (Drawing lines is a type of fortune telling. Seeking omens by birds includes taking omens from their names, their sounds, and their flight path.) (Al Hutay’ah was a poet who lived in both eras. His name was Jarwal ibn Aws al ʿAbsi. He died in 45 AH.)

So the words of the Prophet ﷺ: “Leave the birds in their places”, mean: do not stir them, for stirring them and what you do of omens does not bring about anything. What brings about things in what you turn towards is the decree of Allah, Most High.

The Prophet ﷺ was asked about omens, and he said: “It is only something that one of you finds within himself, so let it not turn you away.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 151.)

An example like that is his explanation of the words of the Prophet ﷺ: “He forbade that animals be held and made targets.” He said: this means that they are shot after being taken. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 138.)

In Kitab al Umm he said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the restrained sheep, meaning the sheep that is tied up and then shot with arrows.”

Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas said: I was in the gathering of Ibn ʿUyaynah and al Shafiʿi was present.

Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from al Zuhri the hadith of Safiyyah and the two men, meaning that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in retreat, then Safiyyah came to him. When she went to return, the Prophet ﷺ walked with her, and a man from the Ansar saw him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: “She is Safiyyah, and Satan runs through the son of Adam like blood runs.”

Ibn ʿUyaynah, and he was among his greatest shaykhs in Makkah, said to al Shafiʿi: “What is the understanding of this hadith, Abu ʿAbd Allah?” He said: “If those people were to accuse the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then by accusing him they would be disbelievers. Rather, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught those after him.

He said: if you are in such a situation, then do such a thing, so that no one thinks badly of you. It is not that the Prophet ﷺ, and he is the trustworthy one of Allah over His revelation, could be accused.” Ibn ʿUyaynah said: “May Allah reward you with goodness, Abu ʿAbd Allah. Nothing comes to us from you except what we love.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 54.) (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 147.)

Only a few examples have been given. They show the skill of al Shafiʿi in understanding the Prophetic Sunnah in its meanings, its words, and its aims. Whoever wishes more may return to al Umm, al Risalah, and the other books of al Shafiʿi, for within them are matters that amaze the mind.

May Allah have mercy on Muhammad ibn al Hasan. He used to say: “If the people of hadith ever speak, then it is with the tongue of al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 55.)

Hilal ibn al ʿAla’ said: “May Allah have mercy on al Shafiʿi. He is the one who opened the locks for the people of hadith.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/64.)

His Following of the Sunnah

Many statements are narrated from al Shafiʿi that show his attachment to transmitted reports, his reliance upon them, and his making them the foundation of his ijtihad. He did not see proof in anything else if the transmitted report is established. No one besides the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has any proof. If the transmitted report comes, is sound, its meaning is clear, and there is no abrogation and no sound opposing proof, then it is the Sharia, and there is no Sharia besides it.

Al Rabiʿ said:

Al Shafiʿi said to me: “I have given you a summary that will suffice you, if Allah wills: do not leave any hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, unless there comes from him what contradicts it, so that you act on what I have described for you of the hadith reports when they differ.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

Al Muzani said: al Shafiʿi said: “If you find an authentic Sunnah, then follow it and do not turn to the saying of anyone.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

Because of this, he was called in Iraq: “the helper of the Sunnah.” Al Khatib al Baghdadi said: “Imam al Shafiʿi, the adornment of jurists and the crown of ulama.” Then he said: he came to Baghdad two times and narrated there, and they named him “the helper of the Sunnah.” (Tarikh Baghdad, 2/56.) (It has already been mentioned that what is established is that his trips to Baghdad were three.) (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 1/178.)

He was also described by the imam of hadith Ahmad ibn Hanbal. ʿAbd al Malik ibn ʿAbd al Hamid ibn Mihran said:

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me: “Why do you not look into the books of al Shafiʿi? Has anyone set down books, since books appeared, who is more following of the Sunnah than al Shafiʿi?” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 61.) (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.) (ʿAbd al Malik ibn ʿAbd al Hamid, Abu al Hasan al Raqqi, was a hadith preserver and jurist, a companion of Ahmad. He narrated from Ishaq al Azraq and Ruh ibn ʿUbadah and others. Al Nasa’i narrated from him, and he declared him trustworthy. He died in 274 AH.)

Ahmad also said: “If al Shafiʿi saw something established, then if the hadith was sound with him, he would act by it.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

He also said: “The best thing about al Shafiʿi was that when he heard an established report that he had not had before, he acted by it and left his own view.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

Al Tirmidhi said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say: “May Allah have mercy on al Shafiʿi. He used to defend the transmitted reports.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 57.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi said: “Al Thawri died and scrupulous caution died. Al Shafiʿi died and the Sunnahs died. Ahmad will die and innovations will appear.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/29.)

Hawtharah ibn Muhammad al Munqiri said: “A man’s Sunnah becomes clear in two matters: his love for Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and his writing down the books of al Shafiʿi.” (al Intiqa’, 89.) (Hawtharah ibn Muhammad al Munqiri, Abu al Azhar al Basri al Warraq, narrated from al Qattan and Ibn Mahdi. Ibn Majah narrated from him. Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy. He died in 256 AH.)

As for al Shafiʿi’s statements about giving preference to the Sunnah, treating it as proof, and setting aside any principle that contradicts proof from the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah, they are many, well known, and widely spread.

That is because he believed that no one has the power to gather all the Sunnah, just as no one can be free from error in understanding it or in grading it sound. So he used to say, as narrated by al Rabiʿ:

“There is no one except that some Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ goes away from him and is hidden from him. So whatever I say, or whatever principle I lay down, and there is from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what contradicts what I have said, then the ruling is what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, and it is my view.” And he kept repeating these words. (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/311.)

Abu Thawr narrated from him that he said: “Every hadith from the Prophet ﷺ is my view, even if you did not hear it from me.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 94.)

Al Husayn al Karabisi narrated from him that he said: “If you find the proof lying in the road, then attribute it to me, for I speak by it.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 94.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: al Shafiʿi said to us: “You know hadith and narrators better than I do. So if the hadith is sound, then inform me of it, whether it is from Kufah, Basrah, or al Sham, so that I may act by it if it is sound.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 94.) (Al Bayhaqi said: he only meant the hadith reports of Iraq. As for the hadith reports of the Hijaz, then al Shafiʿi is more knowledgeable of them than others. What is meant is that he would use as proof everything that is sound with him.)

Al Rabiʿ narrated from him that he said: “If you find in my book something that contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then speak by it and leave what I have said.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

Al Rabiʿ said: I heard him say: “Whenever I narrate an authentic hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then I do not act by it, then bear witness that my mind has gone.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

Al Rabiʿ also narrated that he said: “Every issue I have spoken about, and the report is sound in it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, among the people of fiqh, in contradiction to what I have said, then I return from it in my life and after my death.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

His statement became famous: “If the hadith is sound, then it is my madhhab.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

And his statement, as narrated by al Muzani: “If you find an authentic Sunnah, then follow it and do not turn to the saying of anyone.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 63.)

And his statement: “If the hadith is sound, then strike my saying against the wall.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/173.)

This was his caution for the religion of Allah, fearing that something might enter it that is not from it.

People trusted his religion, his scrupulous caution, and his ijtihad. So he declared, before Allah, that he withdraws from a view he held if it is not supported by proof from the Qur’an or an authentic Sunnah.

Al Buwayti narrated from al Shafiʿi that he said: “I have authored these books, and I have not fallen short in them. Yet it is unavoidable that error will be found in them, because Allah Most High says:

ولو كان من عند غير الله لوجدوا فيه اختلافاً كثيراً

If it had been from someone other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.

So whatever you find in these books of mine that contradicts the Qur’an and the Sunnah, then I have returned from it.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 62.)

He would become very angry if he presented his proof from the Sunnah to one of the ulama and the person rejected it, then tried to support his own view with the view of someone who is not protected from error, even if that person was among the greatest imams.

In a debate between Ishaq ibn Rahawayh and al Shafiʿi, al Shafiʿi asked someone who knew him: “Who is this?” He said: “This is Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn al Hanzali ibn Rahawayh al Khurasani.” Al Shafiʿi said to him: “Are you the one the people of Khurasan claim is their jurist?”

Ishaq said: “That is what they claim.” Al Shafiʿi said: “How much I wish someone else were in your place, so I could order your ears to be rubbed.

I say to you: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said’, and you say: ‘ʿAta’, Tawus, Mansur, Ibrahim, al Hasan, and those people do not hold this view.’ Does anyone have proof with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/295.)

He would also become angry, with sharp ridicule, when he presented a proof from the Sunnah, and someone said to him: “Do you take it?”

Al Zʿafarani said:

I heard al Shafiʿi say, to the one who said to him: “Do you take this hadith?”: “Do you see me in a synagogue?

Do you see me in a church? Do you see me wearing the clothing of disbelievers? Here you see me in the masjid of Muslims, wearing the clothing of Muslims, facing their qiblah. I narrate a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ, then I do not speak by it?” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/138.)

Because of how strongly attached he was to the Sunnah, and how sincere he was in that, he would tremble, his colour would turn yellow, and he would change, when it was said to him, while he was using the Sunnah as proof: “Do you say by it?”

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said:

I heard al Shafiʿi. A man asked him about an issue, so he said: “It is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ that he said such and such.”

The questioner said: “Abu ʿAbd Allah, do you say by this?” Al Shafiʿi trembled, his colour turned yellow, he shook and changed, and he said: “Woe to you. Which earth would carry me, and which sky would shade me, if I narrated from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and did not accept it. Yes, upon the head and the eyes.” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/311.) (Sifat al Safwah, 2/145.)

He often declared that he only contradicts whoever contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Because of his frankness in that, some accused him of contradicting certain imams for worldly gain. So he said: “They say: I contradict them for the dunya. How could that be when the dunya is with them?

A person only wants the dunya for his stomach and his private parts. I have prevented myself from the most pleasurable foods, and there is no path to marriage”, meaning because of what he suffered of haemorrhoids, “but I only contradict whoever contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 76.)

How often al Shafiʿi became strained by those blind followers who hear an explicit hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, with no ambiguity in it, yet they turn away from acting by what it requires.

Here is what Ibn Hajar said in Tawali al Ta’sis, 63, quoting the writing of Shaykh Taqi al Din al Subki, in a work he authored on this issue, the issue of a blind follower acting by a hadith, in summary:

If someone who follows al Shafiʿi finds a sound hadith that contradicts his madhhab, then if he has the full tools of ijtihad in that issue, he should act by the hadith, on the condition that the imam did not already know it and respond to it.

If he does not have the full tools, and he finds an imam from the imams of the madhhahib who acted by it, then he may follow him in that. If he does not find such, and the issue is one in which there is no agreement, then acting by the hadith is more fitting. If agreement is established, then he does not say that.

Ibn Hajar said: it becomes even more strongly required when the imam built the issue upon a hadith he thought sound, then it became clear that it is not sound, and a sound report is found that contradicts it.

The same applies if the imam knew it, but it was not established with him, then a firm route is found for it. Al Shafiʿi often linked his statement on a ruling to the hadith becoming sound with its people, such as his words in al Buwayti: if the hadith is sound about ablution after washing the dead, then I say by it, and in al Umm: if the hadith of Dubaʿah about placing a condition is sound, then I say by it, and other than that.

Ibn Hajar said: I gathered from this a book I named: “al Minhah in What al Shafiʿi Linked His Statement in It to Authenticity”, and I ask Allah to make its completion easy, by His help and His strength.

Al Shafiʿi also said: “It is not permissible for anyone who hears the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about raising the hands at the opening of the prayer, and at bowing, and rising from bowing, to leave following his action.” (Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/100.)

He lived by this principle, the principle of speaking by the Sunnah, from the time he was a young man studying in the Sacred Masjid in Makkah. Among what he used to say then is what Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Jawhari narrated.

He said: I was with Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, and it was said to him: “Here is a young man”, meaning al Shafiʿi, “saying: ‘Hold to the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and leave opinion.’” Sufyan said: “May Allah reward this young man with good.” Then he said: Allah Most High said:

إِنَّهُمْ سَمِعُوا فَتًى يَذْكُرُهُمْ يُقَالُ لَهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ ۝ إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ آمَنُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَاهُمْ هُدًى

“They said: ‘We heard a young man mention them. He is called Ibrahim.’” (Al-Anbiya 60)

“They were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.”

(al Intiqa’, 71.)

He also pointed to the following of the Sunnah and calling to it through a dream of Abu Jaʿfar Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Nasr al Tirmidhi. He said: I saw in a dream the Prophet ﷺ in his masjid in Madinah. It was as if I came to him and said: “Messenger of Allah, should I write the opinion of Abu Hanifah?”

He said: “No.” I said: “Should I write the opinion of Malik?” He said: “Do not write from him except what agrees with my hadith.”

I said: “Should I write the opinion of al Shafiʿi?” He gestured with his hand, as if he rebuked me, and he said: “The opinion of al Shafiʿi is not my opinion, but he replied against whoever opposed my Sunnah.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/176.)

Another dream is narrated from Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Balkhi. He said:

I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in sleep. I said: “Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the view of Malik and the people of the Hijaz?”

He said: “No view except my view.” I said: “What do you say about the view of Abu Hanifah and his companions?”

He said: “No view except my view.” I said: “What do you say about the view of al Shafiʿi?” He said: “No view except my view, but his view is against the view of the people of innovation.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 72.)

The Fiqh of al Shafiʿi

Fiqh, in language, is understanding a thing, and every knowledge of a thing is fiqh. (al Misbah al Munir.) In technical usage, fiqh is the knowledge of the practical Sharia rulings that are established for the actions of those who are legally responsible. (al Mustasfa, 1/4.) It may also be used for knowing the Sharia rulings whose path is ijtihad. (Dustur al Ulama, entry “fiqh”.)

Most of the ulama of the Sharia, after the fourth century, did not know fiqh except as rulings that ijtihad had already finished.

They were ulama who followed, and they bound themselves to the ijtihad of the imam of their madhhab or those who came after him. Yet the earlier ones among them were distinguished by receiving rulings along with their proofs, with mastery of the science of disagreement. By that, they came near ijtihad.

In the later ones, reliance on proof became weak, and they bound themselves to the principles of the madhhab. They became distinguished by much branching, even by imagining what could happen, and at times what cannot happen.

As for the ulama of the Salaf, they did not study fiqh except as ijtihad. Some would take from others, but only when he was convinced by his proof and was certain that it was the stronger and more weighty view.

They are two groups. One group studied fiqh and was dominated by transmitted reports, such as Sufyan al Thawri, Ibn ʿUyaynah, Malik, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. The other knew transmitted reports but was dominated by opinion, meaning analogy, such as al Nakhaʿi, Hammad, Rabiʿah al Ra’y, and Abu Hanifah.

Al Shafiʿi, may Allah have mercy on him, as has already been read, took the knowledge of these and those and knew what was truly with them and knew their disagreements. Then he performed ijtihad, so he set down the foundations and established the principles, and he came to the people with a third path, between the path of hadith and the path of opinion.

That is, he took the Sunnah and acted by it, and he did not neglect sound analogy that is a branch of the text. The clearest indication of that is a statement of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: “We kept cursing the people of opinion and they cursed us, until al Shafiʿi came and mixed between us.” (Tartib al Madarik, 1/95.)

Al Qadi ʿIyad said, commenting on these words: “He meant that al Shafiʿi held firmly to sound transmitted reports and acted by them. Then he showed them that there is some opinion that is needed, and that Sharia rulings are built upon it, and that it is analogy upon their foundations and drawn from them.

He showed them how to draw them out and how to attach to their causes and their indications. So the people of hadith learned that sound opinion is a branch of the foundation, and the people of opinion learned that there is no branch except after the foundation, and that there is no escape from giving precedence to the Sunnahs and sound transmitted reports first.” (Tartib al Madarik, 1/95.)

This is how al Shafiʿi was. Whatever he set down as a principle, whatever analogy he established, and whatever cause he extracted, he would set it aside if he came upon an established hadith that contradicted his principles, or he would make it, if that was possible, a specific ruling drawn out from a general ruling.

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: I said to al Shafiʿi: “ʿAli ibn Maʿbad informed us, with his chain, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he permitted selling wheat while it is in its ear, when it becomes white.” Al Shafiʿi said: “As for this, then it is uncertainty, because it is hidden, so it cannot be seen. If the report is established from the Prophet ﷺ, we say by it, and it is a specific ruling drawn out from a general ruling.

Just as we forbade selling a heap of food stacked some of it on top of some because it is uncertainty. When the Prophet ﷺ permitted it, we permitted it as he permitted it, and it became a specific ruling drawn out from a general ruling, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade selling what contains uncertainty, and he permitted this.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 87–88.) (Al Qaffal used to forbid selling the heap and would give fatwa in it by the madhhab of al Shafiʿi.)

Likewise, he permitted selling a share of a house, and he established the right of pre emption for the one who has the right of pre emption, even though its foundation is hidden and not seen, and there is wood in the wall that is not seen.

When the Prophet ﷺ permitted that, we permitted it as he permitted it, even though there is uncertainty in it, and it became a specific ruling drawn out from a general ruling.

It is not possible here to expand in researching the fiqh of al Shafiʿi, for that needs a large independent book. Yet the reader will sense that no occasion that required speaking about his fiqh has been left without mention, to the extent that the place could carry.

Al Shafiʿi as the First to Set Down the Science of Principles, and His Book al Risalah

The ulama and jurists agreed that the first to originate the science of principles was al Shafiʿi.

Al Fakhr al Razi said: “Before Imam al Shafiʿi, they used to speak about issues of the principles of jurisprudence, and they used to bring proofs and objections, but they did not have a universal law to return to in knowing the Sharia and in how its proofs oppose each other and how to prefer one over the other.

So al Shafiʿi extracted the science of the principles of jurisprudence, and he set down for creation a universal law to return to in knowing the ranks of the Sharia proofs. So it is established that al Shafiʿi’s place in the science of the Sharia is like Aristotle’s place in the science of the mind.” (Manaqib al Shafiʿi, 57.)

Badr al Din al Zarkashi said in al Bahr al Muhit in principles, in manuscript: “Al Shafiʿi was the first to author in the principles of jurisprudence. He authored in it Kitab al Risalah, Kitab Ahkam al Qur’an, Ikhtilaf al Hadith, Ibtal al Istihsan, Kitab Jimaʿ al ʿIlm, and Kitab al Qiyas.” (The introduction of al Risalah by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir, 13.) (Al Zarkashi is Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Zarkashi, Turkish in origin, born and died in Egypt, among the ulama of the Shafiʿiyyah and of principles. He died in 794 AH.)

Ibn Khallikan said: “Al Shafiʿi was the first to speak in the principles of jurisprudence, and he is the one who extracted it.” (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/566.) (Ibn Khallikan is Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Irbili, the historian and proof, the author of Wafayat al Aʿyan. He died in 681 AH.)

Al ʿAllamah al Asnawi said: “Al Shafiʿi was the first to author in the principles of jurisprudence, by agreement, and he was the first to lay down the abrogating reports of hadith from the abrogated.” (Al Asnawi is ʿAbd al Rahim ibn al Hasan ibn ʿAli al Asnawi, a jurist and scholar of principles among the ulama of Arabic. Leadership of the Shafiʿiyyah ended with him. He held positions of oversight and the agency of the treasury. He died in 772 AH.)

Dubays said: “I came to Husayn”, meaning al Karabisi, “and I said: ‘What do you say about al Shafiʿi?’ He said: ‘What can I say about a man who introduced into the mouths of people: the Book, the Sunnah, and agreement. We did not know what the Book and the Sunnah were, neither we nor the earlier ones, until we heard from al Shafiʿi: the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 57.) (Dubays is most likely Dubays ibn Salam, as in al Taj, and al Qasbani, as in al Mizan. He narrated from ʿAli ibn ʿAsim.)

Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Warah said: “When I came from Egypt, I went to Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal to greet him. He said to me: ‘Did you write down the books of al Shafiʿi?’ I said: ‘No.’ He said to me: ‘You have failed. We did not know the general and the specific, nor the abrogating report of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the abrogated, until we sat with al Shafiʿi.’” (Muʿjam al Udaba’, 17/313.) (Also see al Hilyah, 9/97.)

This confirms, with no room for doubt, that al Shafiʿi is the one who set down the principles of jurisprudence in general, not only for his madhhab. He was the first who established this science and originated it. No one authored in this science after him except that he relied upon him.

What stirred the idea of this science in al Shafiʿi, while he was still a young man, was a letter that came to him from the imam of hadith in his time, ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi, and he was in Iraq, asking him to set down for him a book that includes the meanings of the Qur’an, gathers within it the acceptable reports, and clarifies the abrogating and abrogated from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. So he wrote for him Kitab al Risalah. (Tarikh Baghdad, 2/64.) (al Majmuʿ, 1/16.)

It was his letter to ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi. He sent it with al Harith ibn Sirij al Naqqal, and because of that he was called “al Naqqal”.

In this way its name became well known among the ulama in his time and after him. As for al Shafiʿi himself, he did not name it “al Risalah” by this name. Rather, he used to call it “the book”, or he would say: “my book”.

What calls for amazement is that al Shafiʿi wrote this Risalah in the principles of jurisprudence while he was a young man, and an imam of hadith in Baghdad requested it from him. This means that the young al Shafiʿi already had a standing in knowledge and intellect that made the imam of the hadith preservers ask him to benefit him with the principles of knowledge and fiqh.

When the letter reached Ibn Mahdi, he began to be amazed and say: “If it had been less, we would have understood, if it had been less, we would have understood.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/112.)

He also said: “When I looked into the Risalah of al Shafiʿi, it overwhelmed me, because I saw the speech of a sensible man, clear, sincere. I often make supplication for him.” (Tawali al Ta’sis, 55.)

He also said: “I did not think Allah created a man like this.” (Mir’at al Jinan, 2/18.)

So what skill is this, and what scholarly rank did al Shafiʿi reach at an early age.

Ibn Mahdi was not the only one overwhelmed by al Risalah. Many imams were seized by admiration for it and for what it contained of knowledge that was entirely new, worthy of care and study.

Al Muzani said: “I read al Risalah five hundred times. There was not a single time except that I gained from it a new benefit.”

In another narration from him, he said: “I have been looking into al Risalah for fifty years. I do not know that I looked into it once except that I gained something I did not know before.” (al Majmuʿ, 1/16.)

Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan said, when al Risalah was presented to him: “I have not seen anyone more sensible or more deeply understanding than him.” (Tahdhib al Asma’ wa al Lughat, 1/59.) (Yahya ibn Saʿid ibn Farrukh al Qattan al Tamimi was among the leading preservers, trustworthy and a proof, from the peers of Malik and Shuʿbah. He used to give fatwa by the view of Abu Hanifah. He died in 198 AH.)

ʿAbd al Malik al Maymuni said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me: “I did not look into the book of anyone who authored books of fiqh other than al Shafiʿi.” And he said to me: “Why do you not look into it?”

And he mentioned to me the book al Risalah, and he put it ahead of his books. I said: “Abu ʿAbd Allah, with what can we understand that argumentative manner of proof, while we are occupied with hadith?” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 61.)

What is established is that al Shafiʿi authored al Risalah two times, the old Risalah and he authored it in Makkah or in Baghdad, and what is more likely is that he authored it in Makkah, when ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi wrote to him and al Shafiʿi answered him and sent it to him, so it was named al Risalah.

Then when he travelled to Egypt, he re authored the old Risalah, and some of its texts exist in the books of later scholars such as Ibn al Salah, al Nawawi, and Ibn al Qayyim. (Ibn al Qayyim is Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zurʿi al Dimashqi, among the leading ulama. He studied under Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and was imprisoned with him in the citadel of Damascus. He was born and died in Damascus in 751 AH.)

Al Fakhr al Razi said: “Know that al Shafiʿi, may Allah be pleased with him, authored Kitab al Risalah in Baghdad. When he returned to Egypt, he re authored Kitab al Risalah. In each of the two is much knowledge.” (Manaqib al Shafiʿi, 57.)

It is narrated from Fawran that he said: I heard the books of Ahmad ibn Hanbal between his two sons, Salih and ʿAbd Allah, and I found among them the old and new Risalah of al Shafiʿi, the Iraqi and the Egyptian. (Tawali al Ta’sis, 77.)

al Shafiʿi Refuses For Anyone To Imitate Him

Imitation means that a person follows someone else in what he says, whether in speech or action, believing it, without looking and thinking about the evidence, as though the follower has hung the other person’s words or actions as a necklace around his neck. (Dastur al ʿUlama, 1/341.)

Imitation is of two kinds. Either it is in the foundations of faith and beliefs, or it is in the detailed rulings that are drawn from the four foundations: the Book, the Sunnah, consensus, and analogy.

As for imitation in faith and beliefs, the least that can be said about the faith of the imitator in them is that it is doubtful. As for imitation in rulings, which is what is meant here, there is no blame on the one who lacks the ability, or lacks the skill, from the common people and those like them, who did not leave any space in their minds or in their lives for searching for evidence.

People like this exist in every time and place. Even in the time of the Companions and the Followers, most of the Companions and the Followers and those after them used to ask the people of knowledge about their cases and events. Few people had the sharp mind, reason, knowledge, and virtue that would make him fit for independent ijtihad.

There is no blame on people other than these and those like them to imitate, on the condition that they believe with certainty and firm conviction that no one, no matter how high his rank in ijtihad, has any proof besides Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, and no one besides Allah and His Messenger ﷺ can legislate.

The role of these mujtahids is only to be trustworthy in conveying the religion of Allah to people, and to do ijtihad in matters where it is possible that people differ.

As for those who have readiness, knowledge, and skill, by which they can tell falsehood from truth, weigh the evidences, and know what is strong from what is weak, then they are not excused before Allah if they leave looking into the text from the words of Allah, or the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, and cling to the words of a mujtahid. Allah the Exalted says:

وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ
“Do not follow what there is no knowledge of.” (al Isra 36)

He also says:

وَاتَّبِعُوا مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ قَلِيلًا مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
“Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow protectors besides Him. Little is it that you remember.” (al Aʿraf 3)

And He says:

فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا لَكَ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يَتَّبِعُونَ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدًى مِنَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“If they do not respond to you, then know that they only follow their desires. And who is more astray than the one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah. Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (al Qasas 50)

Ibn al Qayyim (d. 751 AH) said: “He divided the matter into two things, with no third. Either responding to Allah and the Messenger ﷺ and what he brought, or following desire. So everything that the Messenger ﷺ did not bring is from desire.”

This is not the place to go deeply into the issue of ijtihad and imitation. That needs its own full separate study.

What is intended here is that all the imams, especially the four imams of the well known madhhahib, strongly refuse that anyone imitates them. The one who is counted as an imitator is not the one who follows statements whose evidences he knows, whose proof he is certain of, and which he accepts with even a small amount of fairness. If that is not present, then he should go to what gives him calm, certainty, and conviction.

This was common among the followers of the madhhahib, especially the close companions of the imams. For a reason, they were called companions and not students. They say about Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH) and Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), “the two companions.” They say, “the companions of Malik,” and “the companions of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH).”

Perhaps that was because they shared with their imams in the evidences they used, and they shared with them in what they held. Many times they opposed them in their lives and after their deaths, because they believed that Allah did not worship anyone through the words of any person.

Rather, He worshipped us through His word, then the word of His Messenger ﷺ. Every person besides them can be taken from and answered back. This also matched what they sought when they agreed upon the well known principle attributed to Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH), and as is authentically reported from al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH): “If the hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab.”

They were even more direct than that. Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) said to his companions: “If evidence becomes clear to you, then say it.” Based on this, Ibn ʿAbidin (d. 1252 AH), the author of the Hashiyah, نقل from Sharh al Hidayah by Ibn al Shuhnah that it says: “If the hadith is authentic and it is against the madhhab, then one acts upon the hadith, and that becomes his madhhab.” (Radd al Muhtar ʿala al Durr al Mukhtar, 1/48.) And al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), like the other imams, forbids that anyone imitates him in what he says.

Al Muzani (d. 264 AH), who was among the most famous students of al Shafiʿi and among the strongest of them in analogy, said at the start of his book al Mukhtasar: “This book is from the knowledge of Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi , and from the meaning of his words.

I brought it close for the one who wants it, while informing him of his forbidding the imitation of him and the imitation of anyone else, so that he looks into it for his religion, and takes care for himself.” (al Mukhtasar, on the margin of al Umm, 1/2.)

Al Shafiʿi said in al Risalah: “And by imitation, the most heedless of them became heedless. Allah forgives us and them.” (al Risalah, 136.)

Harmlah reported: I heard al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) say: “Everything I said to you, if your minds do not bear witness to it, do not accept it, and do not see it as truth, then do not accept it, because the mind is forced to accept the truth.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 92.)

Many of the statements of al Shafiʿi have already passed about urging that his words and ijtihad be left when the Sunnah is established against it. It is impossible that any imam from the imams, or any of the Salaf, would claim that his own words or madhhab is Sharia by itself without a support from the Book or a Sunnah.

The Debates of al Shafiʿi

His ability in debate

No one was known in the time of al Shafiʿi to have the ability of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in debate and silencing the opponent in all ijtihadi issues. This is what made him famous among the ulama. No one in his time had the tools of debate and the causes of victory as fully as he did.

Among the greatest of these tools were the sharpness of his mind, the speed of his thoughts, the quick arrival of proofs to his mind, his noticing weakness in the evidences of his opponent, his speech that no one could match, his huge store of words and expressions, along with courage, and steadiness when minds clash and eyes look into eyes.

Al Rabiʿ said: I said to al Shafiʿi: “Who is the most able of people in debate.” He said: “The one whose tongue is trained to run in the field of words, and who does not stumble when the eyes look at him with their looks.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/139.)

Harun ibn Saʿid said, describing the power of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) to gain victory when debating the ulama: “If al Shafiʿi debated about this pillar of stone that it is made of wood, he would win, because of his ability in debate.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 59.)

Because of this strength, many who saw him debating would feel sorry for the one debating him, have mercy on him, and fear for him.

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said: “I never saw al Shafiʿi debate anyone except that I felt mercy for him. If you saw al Shafiʿi debating you, you would think he is a lion that will eat you. He is the one who taught people proofs.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/173.)

Al Rabiʿ said to al Muzani: “If al Shafiʿi debated the devil, he would cut him and throw him down.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/175.)

This state and ability would appear even with the greatest ulama whom al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) respected and honoured. Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), the great scholar, the shaykh of the people of opinion, one of the two companions, and the teacher of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), once wanted to debate him.

Al Shafiʿi refused out of respect for him, but Muhammad insisted. When the debate became intense, signs of tightness and disturbance appeared on Muhammad’s face and in his state. Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “I debated Muhammad ibn al Hasan one day, and my debate with him became intense, and his neck veins began to swell, and his buttons began to break, button after button.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 160.)

Once, Asbagh ibn al Faraj (d. 225 AH) became so shaken that he began to speak without sense, not knowing what he was saying, when al Shafiʿi pressed him in debate. Al Rabiʿ said: “Asbagh ibn al Faraj came and debated al Shafiʿi in an issue. When al Shafiʿi pressed him, Asbagh said: ‘Death does its work.’ Al Shafiʿi said to him: ‘What does this have to do with what we are in, and when did we ever doubt that death does its work.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 64.)

His patience and lowering his voice in debate

No one wins a round in debate except one who is patient, and no one is patient except the one who is sure of his ability and calm about the strength of his proof. A sign of this certainty is lowering the voice. As for one who becomes light headed, loses control, and behaves foolishly, he tries to replace knowledge and proof with that, and it is impossible for him to gain victory. Foolishness, rashness, and lightness come from failure.

Abu ʿUthman, the son of al Shafiʿi, said: “I never heard my father debate anyone and raise his voice.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

From his patience, he would bear the younger students even if they behaved badly. Al Shafiʿi sat one day in his circle. A young boy came and asked him about an issue, so he answered him. Then he asked him about another issue and said: “You made a mistake.” Al Shafiʿi said to him: “You made a mistake, my nephew, in what is in your book. As for the truth, then no.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 64.)

His nobility in debate and the height of his spirit

It is rare for a person to leave the pull of the self in loving control and victory, and to hold onto what his religion, honour, and upright character demand. Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) rose above that in his debates. He never debated anyone to defeat him, or to show off his proof and strength. Rather, he wanted to guide his opponent to the truth and help him upon it.

Al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi (d. 245 AH) said: I heard al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) say: “I never debated anyone except that I loved that he be given success, or be guided to what is correct, or be helped, and that he have care from Allah and protection. I never debated anyone except that I did not care whether Allah makes the truth clear on my tongue or on his tongue.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

Ahmad ibn Khalid al Khallal said: I heard al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) say: “I never debated anyone and loved that he make a mistake.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “I never debated anyone for victory.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.) Rather, he debated for sincere advice. He said: “I never debated anyone except upon sincere advice.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

His measure in respecting the opponent was not tricks, or clever moves, or the loudness of the voice, or harsh speech. Rather, it was fairness, love of truth, and accepting proof and evidence. He used to say: “I never presented proof to anyone and he accepted it except that he became great in my eyes. And I never presented it to anyone and he rejected it except that he fell in my eyes.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 64.)

Examples from his debates

Al Nawawi (d. 676 AH) said: In al Umm by al Shafiʿi there are many of these debates, with wonders, precious points, and useful principles. How many debates are in it, where everyone who stops at them, is fair, and is truthful, will be sure that no one before him reached them. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

From the smaller examples that are reported is that Ahmad ibn Hanbal debated al Shafiʿi about leaving the prayer. Al Shafiʿi said to him:

“O Ahmad, do you say that he becomes a disbeliever.”

Ahmad said: “Yes.”

Al Shafiʿi said: “If he is a disbeliever, then by what does he become Muslim.”

Ahmad said: “He says: ‘There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’”

Al Shafiʿi said: “He continues on this statement and did not leave it.”

Ahmad said: “He becomes Muslim by praying.”

Al Shafiʿi said: “The prayer of a disbeliever is not valid, and Islam is not graded by it.”

So Ahmad stopped and was silent. (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/61.)

From his debates with Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), Abdullah ibn al Zubayr al Humaydi reported that al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said:

“I wrote down the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan, and I came to know their views. When he would get up, I would debate his companions. One day, in anger, he said to me: ‘It has reached me that you oppose us.’

I said: ‘It is only something I say in debate.’ He said: ‘Something else has reached me.’ Then he debated me. I said: ‘I honour you and I see you above being debated.’ He refused, so I said: ‘Bring it.’

He said: ‘What do you say about a man who seized a plank of teak from a man, then built on it a building and spent one thousand dinars on it. Then the owner of the teak came and established with two upright witnesses that he seized this teak from him and built this building on it. What would you rule.’

I said: ‘I would say to the owner of the courtyard: you must take its value. If he is content that I ruled for him with the value. If he refuses except his teak, I would pull down the building and return his teak.’

He said to me: ‘What do you say about a man who seized a thread of silk and stitched his belly with it. Then the owner of the thread came and established with two upright witnesses that he seized this thread from him and stitched his belly with it. Would you pull the thread from his belly.’

I said: ‘No.’

He said: ‘Allah is greater. You left your view.’ His companions said: ‘You left your view.’

I said: ‘Do not rush. Tell me, if he did not seize the teak from anyone, and he wanted to pull this building from it and build something else, is that permissible for him or not.’

They said: ‘Permissible.’

I said: ‘What if the thread was his own thread, and he wanted to pull this thread from his belly, is that permissible for him or not.’

They said: ‘Not permissible.’

I said: ‘So how do you measure what is permissible against what is not permissible.’

Then he said: ‘What if a man seized a teak board and put it into his ship and went deep into the sea, and the owner of the board established with two upright witnesses that he seized this board from him and put it into his ship. Would you pull the board from the ship.’

I said: ‘No.’

He said: ‘Allah is greater. You left your view.’ His companions said: ‘You left your view.’

I said: ‘What if the board was his own board, then he wanted to pull that board from the ship while it is in the deep sea, is that permissible for him or not.’

He said: ‘Not permissible.’

He said: ‘So what does the owner of the ship do.’

I said: ‘He is ordered to bring his ship close to the nearest harbour, a harbour where he and his companions will not be destroyed. Then I pull the board and hand it to its owner, and I say: repair your ship and go.’

Muhammad ibn al Hasan said, as proof: ‘Has the Prophet ﷺ not said: “No harm and no causing harm.”’

I said: ‘He harmed himself. No one harmed him.’

Then I said to him: ‘What do you say about a man who seized a slave girl, and she gave birth to ten children, all of whom have recited the Qurʾan, delivered sermons on the pulpits, and judged between the Muslims.

Then the owner of the slave girl established with two upright witnesses that he seized this slave girl from him and she gave birth to these children. I ask you by Allah, what would you rule.’

He said: ‘I would rule that his children are slaves for the owner of the slave girl, and I would return the slave girl to him.’

I said: ‘May Allah have mercy on you. Which is greater harm, that you return his children as slaves, or that you pull down the building from the teak.’”

From the interesting reports about his debates is that he debated Abu ʿUbayd al Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 224 AH) about the meaning of “qurʾ” in the Qurʾan. The word “qurʾ” is one of the words that can mean two opposite things, it can mean purity, and it can mean menstruation. Each of them kept bringing his view, until they separated, and each one adopted the view of the other, and was affected by the proofs and evidences the other brought.

Al Subki (d. 771 AH) said: If this report is authentic, then it shows the greatness of Abu ʿUbayd, because we did not hear of anyone who debated al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) and then al Shafiʿi returned to his view.

al Shafiʿi and Speculative Theology (Kalam)

The Muslims, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was among them, were one hand against others. They understood the spirit of Islam and made the word of Allah the highest. If they differed about anything, they judged by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in what occurred between them, and they submitted to his ruling, and they did not find any tightness in their hearts about what he decided.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not pass away before Satan tried with all his power to plant trials in the path of the Muslims, and spread disagreement and division among them. Yet the Muslims, by holding firmly to the rope of Allah, broke his plot and closed a gap that almost opened, if Allah had not protected them, and the pledge was completed to Abu Bakr as the successor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Yet a seed of disagreement remained hidden, which Satan breathed into the chests of those who did not want the face of Allah and the Hereafter, until it was the end of the time of ʿUthman, and there the horn of disagreement appeared.

People became groups, and it grew in the time of ʿAli, and opinions and desires became strong, then grew and spread through argument and dispute, until every desire had followers who defended it and supported it with whatever proof and power they could.

They used Greek philosophy and the logic of Aristotle to support their beliefs. A group from the sincere ulama feared that something from the views of the people of desires would enter the faith of people, so they used their methods.

That became what they called speculative theology, or the science of the foundations of religion, which they defined as: “A science that gives ability to establish religious beliefs by bringing proofs for them and removing doubts from them.” (Miftah al Saʿadah, 2/20.)

Most of the imams of the Muslims and their ulama did not pay attention to this direction. They held to what the belief and religion were upon in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The ulama of the Followers inherited the knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah in the foundations of faith and the branches of religion from the ulama of the Companions. Those after them inherited it from them. They all cared to hold to the natural fitrah of Islam, and they did not permit anything from these philosophies to enter their hearts and minds in the religion of Allah.

These philosophies undo today what they built yesterday. Connecting a lasting revealed religion to a philosophy made by people makes it open to erasing, affirming, changing, and replacing. No one claims that philosophy has reached its final word. If religion were connected to it, religion would become like that. What Allah made is not like what people made.

This was the path of the imams of the religion, including al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH). They turned to understanding the religion of Allah. Their source was the Book and the Sunnah. They did not care about what is besides them.

Al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi (d. 245 AH) said: al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “Every speech that is from the Book and the Sunnah is the truth. What is besides them is nonsense.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 64.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “When the hadith became firm with al Shafiʿi, he acted by it. One of his best traits was that he did not desire speculative theology. His concern was fiqh.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 63.)

Al Shafiʿi said: “There is nothing more hated to me than speculative theology and its people.” (Shadharat al Dhahab, 2/9.) He also said: “No one fell into speculative theology and succeeded.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 186.)

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman al Muradi said: I saw al Shafiʿi coming down the steps while people in the sitting were speaking with something from speculative theology. He shouted at them and said: “Either stay with us with good, or get up from us.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 184.)

Al Shafiʿi held that committing any sin, besides shirk, is safer before Allah than meeting Him with a statement from these desires. He said: “For a person to meet Allah with every sin, except shirk with Allah, is better for him than to meet Him with anything from these desires.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 187.)

For this reason, he disliked that anyone speak in his sitting about speculative theology. Al Rabiʿ said: When speculative theology was spoken about in his sitting, he forbade it. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/65.)

Al Muzani (d. 264 AH) said: The view of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) was dislike of entering into speculative theology, and he said: al Shafiʿi used to forbid us from entering into speculative theology. (Adab al Shafiʿi, 188.)

It is also reported that he said: “If people knew what is in speculative theology from desires, they would run from it as they run from a lion.” (Miftah al Saʿadah, 2/26.)

He gave a harsh ruling on the people of speculative theology, fitting for their desires. He said: “My ruling about the people of speculative theology is that they are struck with palm branches, and paraded through clans and tribes, and it is said: this is the punishment of the one who left the Sunnah and entered into speculative theology.” (Miftah al Saʿadah, 2/26.) He also said: “If you hear a man saying: the name is the named, or it is other than it, then bear witness that he is from the people of speculative theology, and he has no religion.” (Miftah al Saʿadah, 2/26.)

Similar statements were transmitted from the other three imams, especially Malik and Ahmad.

His view on the Qurʾan being created

The issue of the Qurʾan being created is an issue that the Muʿtazilah introduced. The Salaf did not speak with it. The summary of their thought is that the Qurʾan and the revealed books cannot be eternal, so they claimed they are created.

They claimed that the speech of Allah is sounds and letters that Allah creates in something else, and it reaches the Prophet ﷺ through an angel and the like. They used as proof His saying:

وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولًا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ
“It is not for any human that Allah speaks to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger, who reveals by His permission what He wills.” (al Shura 51)

They said the Qurʾan is called the speech of Allah because Allah created it without a mediator, as they claimed.

This is the summary of the view of the Muʿtazilah about the Qurʾan being created.

When the Muʿtazilah raised the claim that the Qurʾan is created, the ulama of the Salaf said: “The Qurʾan is the speech of Allah. We do not say created, and we do not say not created.” (Duha al Islam, 3/39.)

The view of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in this issue, was the view of the other ulama of the Salaf: the Qurʾan is the speech of Allah, not created. He might even declare disbelief upon the one who says the Qurʾan is created.

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: Someone I trust told me, and I was present in the sitting, that Hafs al Fard said: “The Qurʾan is created.”

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “You disbelieved in Allah, the Mighty.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 194.)

He also said: I attended al Shafiʿi, or Abu Shuʿayb told me, and I know that Abdullah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, Yusuf ibn ʿAmr ibn Yazid, and Hafs al Fard attended. Al Shafiʿi used to call him “Hafs al Munfarid.” Hafs asked Abdullah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam: “What do you say about the Qurʾan.” He refused to answer him.

He asked Yusuf ibn ʿAmr ibn Yazid and he did not answer him. Each of them pointed to al Shafiʿi. Hafs asked al Shafiʿi. Al Shafiʿi argued against him, the debate became long, al Shafiʿi established the proof against him that the Qurʾan is the speech of Allah, not created, and he declared Hafs al Fard a disbeliever.

Al Rabiʿ said: Then I met Hafs al Fard in the sitting later, and he said: “Al Shafiʿi wanted to kill me.”

In another report: Hafs got up angry. I met him later in the chicken market in Egypt. He said: “Did you see what al Shafiʿi did to me. This man, I do not know any human more knowledgeable than him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 56.)

Faith is speech and action

A group held that faith is only knowledge in the heart and saying it on the tongue. If a person knows the religion with his heart and says it with his tongue, then he is a Muslim with complete faith and Islam. They say actions are called faith, but they are the laws of faith. This is the view of Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) and a group of jurists, and it is the view of the Murjiʾah.

The rest of the jurists, the people of hadith, the Muʿtazilah, the Shiʿah, and all the Khawarij held that faith is knowledge in the heart of the religion, saying it on the tongue, and action by the limbs. Every act of obedience and every good deed, whether obligatory or optional, is faith. Whenever a person increases in good, his faith increases. Whenever he disobeys, his faith decreases. (al Fasl, 3/188.)

This is what al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) held, and it is reported from him.

Abu ʿUthman Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi said: I heard my father, meaning Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), say one night to al Humaydi: “There is no verse stronger against them,” meaning the Murjiʾah, “than His saying, the Exalted:”

وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ
“They were only commanded to worship Allah, making the religion sincere for Him, being upright, establishing the prayer, and giving the zakah. That is the upright religion.” (al Bayyinah 5)

Al Rabiʿ said: I heard al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) say: “Faith is speech, action, and belief in the heart. Do you not see the saying of Allah the Mighty:”

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ
“Allah would not let your faith be lost.” (al Baqarah 143)

Meaning, your prayer toward Bayt al Maqdis. So He called the prayer faith, and it is speech, action, and firm belief. (al Intiqaʾ, 81.)

Upon this view, faith is speech and action. Faith increases until its person enters Paradise, and it decreases until its person enters the Fire. Clear Qurʾan verses came about this.

Among them is His saying:

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and upon their Lord they rely.” (al Anfal 2)

And His saying:

وَإِذَا مَا أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ أَيُّكُمْ زَادَتْهُ هَذِهِ إِيمَانًا فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَزَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَهُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ
“When a surah is sent down, then among them is one who says: which of you did this increase in faith. As for those who believed, it increased them in faith, and they rejoice.” (al Tawbah 124)

And His saying:

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ السَّكِينَةَ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لِيَزْدَادُوا إِيمَانًا مَعَ إِيمَانِهِمْ
“He is the One who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers so that they may increase in faith along with their faith.” (al Fath 4)

This is what al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) believed. Al Rabiʿ said: I heard al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) say: “Faith is speech and action. It increases and decreases.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

Harmlah ibn Yahya reported: Hafs al Fard and Mislaq al Ibadi met with al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in the house of al Jarwi in Egypt and they disputed about faith. Mislaq argued for increase and decrease, and Hafs argued that faith is speech. Hafs rose above Mislaq and became strong against him, and Mislaq became weak. Al Shafiʿi became intense and took charge of the issue, that faith is speech and action, it increases and decreases, so he crushed Hafs al Fard and cut him off. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 192.)

al Shafiʿi’s View on Seeing Allah on the Day of Resurrection

The majority of the ulama of the Salaf agree that the people of Paradise will see their Lord, because of the clear meaning of His saying:

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ ۝ إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ
“Faces on that Day will be bright, looking at their Lord.” (al Qiyamah 22–23)

Muslim reported in his Sahih, from Suhayb, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, will say: ‘Do you want anything that I may give you more?’

They will say: ‘Did You not brighten our faces? Did You not admit us into Paradise and save us from the Fire?’ He will then remove the veil, and nothing will be given to them that is more beloved to them than looking at their Lord, Mighty and Majestic.” In another report: then he recited:

لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَىٰ وَزِيَادَةٌ
“For those who did good is the best reward and more.” (Yunus 26)

Jarir ibn ʿAbd Allah reported: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He looked at the moon on the night of the full moon and said: ‘You will certainly see your Lord clearly, just as you see this moon.

You will not be harmed in seeing Him. So if you are able not to be overcome regarding a prayer before sunrise and before sunset, then do so.’ Then he recited:

وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُوبِ
“And glorify the praise of your Lord before sunrise and before sunset.” (Taha 130)

This is agreed upon.

Affirming that Allah will be seen is the view of Abu Bakr al Siddiq (d. 13 AH), and in one report, ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (d. 40 AH), and Hudhayfah, and ʿUbadah ibn al Samit, and Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, and Abu Musa, and Suhayb, and in one report Ibn ʿAbbas, and it is the view of a group of the Followers, and it is the correct view in this issue. (Tafsir al Qurtubi, 8/110.)

As for His saying:

لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصَارَ
“Vision does not encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision.” (al Anʿam 103)

Its meaning is that they will look at Allah, but their sight will not encompass Him because of His greatness, as ʿAtiyyah al ʿAwfi said. (Tafsir al Qurtubi, 9/110.)

The madhhab of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in this issue matches what the majority of the ulama of the Salaf said: that the allies of Allah will see their Lord in the Hereafter.

This was reported from him by al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman, and Abu Hanifah Qahzam ibn ʿAbd Allah al Aswani, and al Muzani, and Harmlah ibn Yahya, and others. This is the correct view. Some people of speculative theology reported the opposite from him, but it is not authentic from him. (al Intiqaʾ, 81–82.)

The correct report is what al Muzani reported from Ibn Hurmu that he heard al Shafiʿi say about His saying:

كَلَّا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ
“No, indeed, on that Day they will be veiled from their Lord.” (al Mutaffifin 15)

That this is proof that the allies of Allah will see Him in the Hereafter. (al Intiqaʾ, 81–82.)

Al Rabiʿ said: One day I was with al Shafiʿi, and a letter came to him from Upper Egypt asking about His saying:

كَلَّا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ
So he wrote: “When He veiled some people due to displeasure, that shows that some people will see Him due to pleasure.” I said to him: “Do you hold this as religion, my master.” He said: “By Allah, if Muhammad ibn Idris was not certain that he will see his Lord in the Hereafter, he would not have worshipped Him in this universe.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 2/81.)

His View on Preferencing Some Companions over Others

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, are all upright, and all are honoured. The light of Islam shone upon them, revelation came down among them, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was their clear example, and the best of Allah’s creation in applying Allah’s rulings. Their Lord praised them in His noble Book, with His saying:

كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ
“You are the best nation brought out for people.” (Al ʿImran 110)

And His saying:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا
“And thus We made you a middle nation.” (al Baqarah 143)

And His saying:

وَالسَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ
“And the first forerunners among the emigrants and the helpers, and those who followed them with excellence, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him.” (al Tawbah 100)

The hadith about the virtue of the Companions are many. Among the clearest for what is intended is what al Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban reported in his Sahih, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Mughaffal, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah, Allah, regarding my Companions. Do not take them as a target after me.

Whoever loves them, loves them because of my love. Whoever hates them, hates them because of my hate. Whoever harms them has harmed me. Whoever harms me has harmed Allah. It is near that He will seize him.”

Abu Zurʿah al Razi said: “If you see a man criticising anyone among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then know that he is a heretic. That is because the Messenger is true, the Qur’an is true, and what he brought is true. The Companions conveyed all of that to us. These people want to attack our witnesses so that they can destroy the Book and the Sunnah. So attacking them is more fitting, and they are heretics.” (al Isabah, 1/10, from al Kifayah.)

As for some Companions being better than others, Qur’an verses point to that, including His saying:

لَا يَسْتَوِي مِنْكُمْ مَنْ أَنْفَقَ مِنْ قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَاتَلَ أُولَٰئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِنَ الَّذِينَ أَنْفَقُوا مِنْ بَعْدُ وَقَاتَلُوا وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَىٰ
“Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest and fought. Those are greater in rank than those who spent after and fought. Yet to each Allah promised the best.” (al Hadid 10)

And His saying:

وَالسَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ
(al Tawbah 100)

The Companions are better than one another due to their early acceptance of Islam, deep faith, spending wealth, and striving in the path of Allah. Allah said:

فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ مَعَهُ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
“So those who believed in him, supported him, aided him, and followed the light that was sent down with him, those are the successful.” (al Aʿraf 157)

The first forerunners ran in one line in virtue, yet some of them are ahead of others in virtue. Allah does not care for the opinion of the one who raises one of them in virtue in order to lower the virtue of another, and to strip him down.

The view that the imams of Islam, their ulama, and their jurists agreed upon, along with the early Muʿtazilah, is that the best people after their Prophet ﷺ are Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH), then ʿUmar (d. 23 AH), then ʿUthman (d. 35 AH), then ʿAli (d. 40 AH), may Allah be pleased with them all.

This ranking in virtue is what al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) held. He said: “The people were forced after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they did not find, under the sky’s canopy, anyone better than Abu Bakr, so for that they placed him over the necks of people.” (Tabaqat al Subki, 2/126.)

Al Harith ibn Surayj said: I heard Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd Allah al Hajabi say to al Shafiʿi: “I have not seen a Hashimi who put Abu Bakr and ʿUmar before ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, other than you.”

Al Shafiʿi said: “ʿAli is my cousin, and I am a man from Banu ʿAbd Manaf, and you are a man from Banu ʿAbd al Dar. If this was a merit, I would have been more entitled to it than you, but the matter is not as you think.” (Tabaqat al Subki, 1/194.)

This statement from al Shafiʿi refutes what Ibn al Nadim claimed in al Fihrist when he said: “Al Shafiʿi was severe in Shiʿism.” He mentioned that a man once asked him an issue, and al Shafiʿi answered. The man said to him: “You opposed ʿAli ibn Abi Talib.” Al Shafiʿi said to him: “Establish it for me from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib until I place my cheek on the dust, and say: I was wrong, and I return from my view to his view.”

He also attended one day a sitting where some of the Talibis were present and said: “I do not speak in a sitting in the presence of any of them. They are more entitled to speak, and for them is leadership and virtue.” (al Fihrist, 295.) (Ibn al Nadim: Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Muhammad, Abu al Faraj ibn Abi Yaʿqub al Nadim, the author of al Fihrist, he was from Baghdad, he was Muʿtazili and inclined to Shiʿism, he lived close to 90 years, and he died in 438 AH.)

There is no proof in what was mentioned here, if it is authentic, that he was severe in Shiʿism. In the first, it is rejecting what is attributed to ʿAli as a ruling. In the second, it is extra honouring and respect for the Talibis.

His love for the family of the Prophet ﷺ does not make him severe in Shiʿism. Rather, loving them is the Sunnah of the Salaf, and no one deviates from that except a ruined person.

As for the saying of al Shafiʿi:

“If loving the family of Muhammad is refusal, then let humans and jinn bear witness that I am a raafidi (rejector).”

It is clear that it does not prove actual rejection. What he meant is that he will not give up loving the family of the Prophet ﷺ, even if he is accused of rejection.

The proof is what was reported from him about the Rafidah, when he said: “I have not seen anyone from the people of desires who are more open in false testimony than the Rafidah.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 187.)

Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: I heard al Shafiʿi, when he mentioned the Rafidah, criticise them with the harshest criticism, and he would say: “The worst group.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 64.)

He used to say about the caliphate: “The caliphs are 5: Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH), ʿUmar (d. 23 AH), ʿUthman (d. 35 AH), ʿAli (d. 40 AH), and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz (d. 101 AH).” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 189.)

al Shafiʿi’s View on Seeing the Jinn

The jinn are other than humans. The singular is jinni. It is said they were called that because they are hidden and not seen. This is what the author of Taj al ʿArus said.

This is not the place to expand on the subject of the jinn and what was said about them. The only point intended here is that the word “jinn” appears in the Qur’an about 20 times, and there is a separate surah for them, beginning with:

قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ
“Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened.” (al Jinn 1)

The ulama differed, as al Qurtubi said, about the origin of the jinn. Ismaʿil reported from al Hasan al Basri that the jinn are the children of Iblis, and humans are the children of Adam, and among them are believers and disbelievers, and they share reward and punishment. Whoever among these and those is a believer is an ally of Allah, and whoever among these and those is a disbeliever is a devil. (al Jamiʿ li Ahkam al Qur’an, 19/5.)

The word “jinn” in its root meaning refers to concealment. The letters jim and nun, when they come together, indicate covering in Arabic. In al Qamus: “The night covered him,” meaning it concealed him, and everything that is hidden from you has become hidden from you.

His saying:

إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تَرَوْنَهُمْ
“Indeed, he and his tribe see you from where you do not see them.” (al Aʿraf 27)

Is proof that Allah created them in a way that they are not seen, as al Qurtubi said in his tafsir.

Because of this, al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) used to say: “Whoever claims, from the people of uprightness, that he sees the jinn, we reject his testimony, because of His saying: ‘Indeed, he and his tribe see you from where you do not see them,’ except if he is a prophet.” (al Jamiʿ li Ahkam al Qur’an, 19/5.)

The Language, Adab, and Poetry of al Shafiʿi

If al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) had not been a mujtahid imam, he would have been among the most brilliant writers of Arabic and its poets, perhaps even the most brilliant of them. It has already been mentioned that he began his life, after completing the Qur’an, by memorising poetry and narrating it.

He went out to the desert to speak directly with the Bedouins, to hear from them, to memorise their language, and to train in their styles, until he became the most eloquent of the people of his time.

Al Shafiʿi said: “I left the school and went to Hudhayl to learn its speech, and it was the most eloquent of the Arabs. I stayed among them for 17 days, travelling as they travelled, and settling where they settled. When I returned to Makkah, I began to recite poetry and mention adab, reports, and the days of the Arabs.” (Tartib al Madarik, 383.)

The people of Arabic used to attend the sitting of al Shafiʿi, for nothing except to listen to him and benefit from his language.

Al Hasan ibn Muhammad al Zaʿfarani said: “A group from the people of Arabic used to come to the sitting of al Shafiʿi with us and sit to the side. I said to a man from their leaders: ‘You are not taking part in the knowledge, so why do you come with us.’ They said: ‘We listen to the language of al Shafiʿi.’” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/299.)

Even if Arabic adab did not gain the most famous writer in its history through him, the Sharia gained him as a great mujtahid, a defender of the Sunnah, knowledgeable of its depths, and aware of its meanings and reasons.

Along with that, his strong speech, his knowledge of the language of his people, his memorisation of its adab and poetry, and his mastery of the Qur’an in memorisation and deep understanding, is rare. Al Mubarrad said: “May Allah have mercy on al Shafiʿi.

He was among the most poetic of people, the most refined of people, and the most knowing of them of the Qur’an.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 62.) Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: “When al Shafiʿi entered Arabic, I would say: he is the most knowing in this. When he spoke in poetry and recitation, I would say: he is the most knowing in this. When he spoke in fiqh, I would say: he is the most knowing in this.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/300.)

Studying al Shafiʿi as a writer, a linguist, and a poet needs a full book. Still, something brief must be said to complete speaking about his personal and scholarly life.

The language of al Shafiʿi

Al Shafiʿi was an Arab from Quraysh, and that alone is enough for sound and eloquent speech. The noble Arabs, especially Quraysh, used to be careful about keeping their language sound, fearing that corruption would enter it, something that began in the first century and increased in the second century after the Umayyad period. Yet al Shafiʿi did not stop at that.

He travelled to Hudhayl, which was the most eloquent of the Arabs, so that he could preserve his natural speech and increase in knowledge and understanding of its language, in words, speech, and style, until he became as though he was one of them, and people used his speech as proof just as they use the speech of the tribes of the Arabs.

Musa ibn Abi al Jarud said: It used to be said: “Muhammad ibn Idris alone is used as proof, just as a tribe of the Arabs is used as proof.” (al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/161.) Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “The speech of al Shafiʿi in language is proof.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 57.) Ayyub ibn Suwayd said: “Take language from al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

Here is the testimony of specialists in Arabic. Abu ʿUbayd said: “Al Shafiʿi was among those from whom language is taken.” Thaʿlab said: “They point out things against al Shafiʿi, and he is from the house of language, so language must be taken from him.”

In Taj al ʿArus, under the entry “ʿawl”, it says: “So and so ‘ala’ ʿayalah, meaning his dependants increased, and by alternation it is also said ‘aʿwala’ and ‘aʿila’. By this they explained His saying: ‘That is nearer that you do not taʿulu’, meaning nearer that your dependants do not increase.

This is the view of ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam. Al Azhari said: al Shafiʿi took this view.

He said: the known usage is ‘ala’ when a man is unjust, and ‘aʿala’ when his dependants increase. Al Kisai said: ‘ala’ also means a man became poor. Al Azhari said: this supports what al Shafiʿi held in explaining the verse, because al Kisai only reports from the Arabs what he preserved and mastered.

He said: the statement of al Shafiʿi is proof because he was Arabic in tongue, clear in speech, and some affected pretenders objected and declared him wrong, and they rushed and did not verify what they said.

A city dweller must not rush to deny what he does not know from the languages of the Arabs.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 62.)

Al Muzani said: When al Shafiʿi came to Egypt, ʿAbd al Malik ibn Hisham al Nahwi, the author of the Maghazi, was there, and he was the leading scholar of his time in language and poetry. He went to al Shafiʿi, then said: “I did not think that Allah created someone like al Shafiʿi.” Then he took the statements of al Shafiʿi as proof in language. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/62.) (ʿAbd al Malik ibn Hisham: Abu Muhammad Jamal al Din, a historian, knowledgeable in lineage, language, and reports of the Arabs, he died in Egypt in 213 AH.)

Al Shafiʿi had a well known rank in Arabic knowledge and his understanding of the styles of the Arabs and what they intend, from the beginning of his youth, from the day he used to attend Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah to take hadith from him.

Sufyan, despite his rank and knowledge, trusted the understanding of al Shafiʿi of the language of his people. He used to ask him in front of people about what was unclear from some expressions in hadith.

Sufyan once reported a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ: “Leave the birds where they are.” Al Shafiʿi was beside Ibn ʿUyaynah. Sufyan turned to him and said: “Abu ʿAbd Allah, what is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: ‘Leave the birds where they are.’” Al Shafiʿi said: “The knowledge of the Arabs used to be in bird divination, the line, and seeking signs. One of them would leave his house wanting to do something.

He would look at the first bird he sees. If it moved from his left and passed to his right, he would say: ‘This is a bird of good fortune,’ and he would go for his need and think he will succeed. If it moved from his right and passed to his left, he would say: ‘This is a bird of bad fortune,’ and he would return and say: ‘This need is unlucky.’

So the saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ‘Leave the birds where they are,’ means do not stir them up. Stirring them up and what you do through superstition does nothing. Only the decree of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, takes effect in what you set out for.” Sufyan used to explain it after that in the way al Shafiʿi explained it. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/300.)

al Shafiʿi and early Arabic poetry

Al Shafiʿi combined natural talent, which grew from his upbringing, with the skill he gained among Hudhayl when he stayed among them. Their lands were around Makkah, and they had number, strength, and protection. (Jamhurat Ansab al ʿArab, 198.) This tribe was famous for eloquence in prose and poetry.

Its poets were many and high in quality, more than any other tribe. Ibn Hazm said: “In Hudhayl there are more than 70 well known poets.” (Jamhurat Ansab al ʿArab, 197.) Al Zabidi said: “Hudhayl went deep in poetry.”

During his stay among them, al Shafiʿi mastered, tasted, and understood the poetry of the best Hudhayli poets. His rank in this was known from when he was a young man.

Al Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: My uncle Musʿab said to me: “I wrote from a young man from Banu Shafiʿ, from the poetry of Hudhayl and its events, a camel load. My eyes did not see the like of it.” I said: “Uncle, you say: my eyes did not see the like of it.” He said: “Yes, my eyes did not see the like of it.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 59.)

Musʿab also said: “My father and al Shafiʿi used to recite poetry to one another, and al Shafiʿi recited the poetry of Hudhayl from memory. He said: ‘Do not let anyone from the people of hadith know this, because they will not bear it.’” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/299.)

The greatest scholars in this field came to him to take the poetry of Hudhayl from him, or to correct it with him. Among them was al Asmaʿi. He used to say: “I corrected the poetry of Hudhayl with a young man from Quraysh in Makkah, called Muhammad ibn Idris.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

Ibn Khallikan said that al Asmaʿi, despite his rank, read the poetry of Hudhayl to al Shafiʿi. (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/565.)

Al Shafiʿi did not limit himself to memorising Hudhayl. He memorised much from others too. Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I narrate for 300 mad poets.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/50.)

Al Asmaʿi used to correct the poetry of al Shanfara with al Shafiʿi. Abu ʿUthman al Mazini said: I heard al Asmaʿi say: “I read the poetry of al Shanfara to al Shafiʿi in Makkah.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/311.)

Al Riyashi said: I was with al Asmaʿi when he corrected with al Shafiʿi the poetry of al Shanfara. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 61.)

There is no doubt that al Shafiʿi, in all stages of his life, did not neglect the poetry of the Arabs in recitation, quoting as evidence, or teaching.

It is unlikely that he forgot what he memorised, due to the sharpness of his mind and because he used to revisit what he memorised whenever the chance came.

The only difference is that in the early part of his life, he was a jurist with adab prevailing, and in the later part, he was a writer with fiqh and ijtihad prevailing.

Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, who was among his students in Egypt, said: “I was born in Dhu al Qaʿdah 186 AH. If I had reached al Shafiʿi as a grown man, I would have drawn from between his ribs many sciences. How complete he was in every field.

I read to him the poetry of Hudhayl, and I never mentioned a poem to him except that he recited it to me from its beginning to its end, even though he died at 54 years.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 60–61.) Al Rabiʿ said: “When al Shafiʿi was alone in his house, he was like a torrent roaring about the days of the Arabs.” (al Intiqaʾ, 92.)

Al Karabisi said: “I never saw a sitting more noble than the sitting of al Shafiʿi. The people of hadith, fiqh, and poetry attended it. The great scholars of language and poetry came to him, and each one would take from him.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

The eloquence and clear speech of al Shafiʿi

The Arabs in their pre Islam time did not have an established prose eloquence that is relied upon, except what was reported of some speeches, and much of it is doubted. True eloquence in great prose appeared with the coming down of the Noble Qur’an, which became the first school in prose eloquence, then with the speech of the Arab Qurayshi Prophet ﷺ, which became the second school.

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, came out from these two schools. Among them were eloquent speakers and clear writers, until the Followers inherited from them many of the finest Islamic meanings in the clearest, strongest style, with noble and chosen words, until this wealth reached great growth by the second half of the second century, the time in which al Shafiʿi lived.

People took from this wealth different shares. Some took its piety, some took its asceticism and caution, some extracted fiqh and its evidences, some sought its structures, eloquence, and the power of its style, and others had other goals.

What was the share of al Shafiʿi from this wealth.

The truth is that al Shafiʿi did not leave any part of this great wealth without taking a large share from it. This is not the place to speak about every kind. What matters here is what he gained in language and clear speech, until he became, in his time, among the most eloquent of the eloquent and the clearest of the clear.

It has already been mentioned that al Shafiʿi began learning with the shaykhs of Makkah, and most of those shaykhs leaned toward care for the Qur’an, understanding its meanings, words, and aims.

The reason is that Ibn ʿAbbas (d. 68 AH) settled in Makkah and people came to him, asking him and hearing from him the interpretation of the Qur’an. Ibn ʿAbbas is the interpreter of the Qur’an, as Ibn Masʿud said.

Al Shafiʿi gained this ability while he was still young, until he became someone pointed to. It has already been mentioned that Ibn ʿUyaynah, when something came to him about tafsir or legal rulings, would turn to al Shafiʿi and say: “Ask this young man.” Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: “At first I used to sit with the people of tafsir and debate about tafsir. When al Shafiʿi mentioned tafsir, it was as though he witnessed the revelation coming down.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 58.)

Abu al Hasan al Ziyadi said: “I have not seen anyone more able to draw meanings from the Qur’an and to use language as proof for that than al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 58.)

This was the way of Ibn ʿAbbas, interpreting the Qur’an verse and using the poetry of the Arabs as proof, and he would often ask poets to recite what they composed. Al Shafiʿi used to support his interpretation with the poetry of the Arabs in the same way.

Al Shafiʿi was deeply affected by the Qur’an, and by the eloquence of the hadith of the Messenger ﷺ. Along with that came what he took from Hudhayl through living among them and memorising their poetry, until he became a proof, and the scholars of that field came to him to take poetry from him and to correct what they read and memorised with him, as has already been mentioned.

After this, it is not surprising that al Shafiʿi was a rare wonder in clear speech, ability, and quick thought, with a flowing natural style, strong control, and deep eloquence, to the point that an expert listener would not be able to replace a word with another word that is more perfect and more eloquent.

Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla said: “The words of al Shafiʿi were as though they were sugar.” He also said: “When we sat around him, we did not know how he speaks, as though it is magic.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 60.) Mahmud al Misri, who was among the most eloquent of people, said: I heard Ibn Hisham say: “I sat with al Shafiʿi for a long time. I never heard him say a word except that the one who reflects would consider it, and he would not find a better word in Arabic than it.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/299.)

Ahmad ibn Abi Surayj said: “I have not seen anyone more able in speech and clearer in speaking than al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 58.) Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “Al Shafiʿi was among the most eloquent of people.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 60.) Dawud ibn ʿAli al Zahiri (d. 270 AH) said: “Whoever holds to any part of his clear speech becomes one who argues with proofs.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/63.)

The striking point in his eloquence is that it did not differ in ordinary speech from debate, research, and writing, unlike many writers of his time, who write in a way that is not like their speech.

Al Rabiʿ held that al Shafiʿi in his speech was more direct than in his writing, because in writing he aimed for ease so that it would be clearer for common people.

He said more than once: “If you had seen al Shafiʿi, the beauty of his speech, and his eloquence, you would have been amazed. If he had written these books with the Arabic that he used to speak with us in debate, people would not have been able to read his books because of his eloquence and the rare words in them. Yet in his writing he worked hard to make things clear for common people.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.)

The great writer, the master of speech, and the leader of thought, al Jahiz, gave a testimony about the writing of al Shafiʿi that he likely did not give for anyone else. He said: “I looked into the books of those brilliant people who became brilliant in knowledge, and I did not see better writing than the one from Banu al Muttalib. His mouth used to string pearls into pearls.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 59.)

Abu Thawr said about al Shafiʿi: “Whoever says that he saw anyone like al Shafiʿi in his knowledge, eloquence, understanding, clear speech, and mastery, has lied.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 1/177.)

al Shafiʿi and Grammar

We have not read, in the biography of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), that he studied grammar with anyone, or that he met anyone from the scholars of grammar.

He used to love to see al Khalil (d. 170 AH), but al Khalil died in Basrah in 170 AH, while al Shafiʿi was in Madinah, going regularly to Malik (d. 179 AH). (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/300.)

Al Shafiʿi did not need to study grammar, because he learned Arabic from childhood among Hudhayl, until he had, by nature, something like what Hudhayl had. So he did not make a mistake in a single word, and he did not slip in sentence structure. He used to attribute his lack of slipping to a dream in which he saw the Prophet ﷺ while he was a boy who had not reached puberty.

Al Rabiʿ said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream before my puberty. He said to me: ‘Boy.’

I said: ‘At your service, Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘Who are you from.’ I said: ‘From your clan.’ He said: ‘Come close to me.’

So I came close. He opened my mouth and placed some of his saliva on my tongue, my mouth, and my lips, and said: ‘Go on, Allah bless you.’ After that, I do not remember slipping in any hadith, or any poetry.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/65.)

The skilled people in Arabic and grammar tracked his speech and listened closely to his hadith, yet they never heard him slip.

ʿAbd al Malik ibn Hisham (d. 213 AH), the grammarian, the author of the Maghazi, said: “We sat with al Shafiʿi for a long time. I never heard a single slip from him, and I never heard a word in its place that was better than it.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/312.) Al Zaʿfarani (d. 260 AH) said: “I never saw him slip, and poetry of every kind would be read to him, and he would recognise it.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

Along with that, he disliked slipping from anyone and was repelled by it. Al Muzani (d. 264 AH) said: A man read in front of al Shafiʿi and slipped, so al Shafiʿi said: “You have made my teeth ache.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

Because of this, the scholars of this field held that the speech of al Shafiʿi is proof in language, and proof in grammar too. We already mentioned earlier the statement of those who said that the speech of al Shafiʿi is proof in language.

Here is the statement of some of the imams of grammar. Al Mazini (d. 249 AH) said: “Al Shafiʿi is proof with us in grammar.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, printed by al Halabi, 2/161.) Abu al Walid al Makki, Musa ibn Abi al Jarud, said: It used to be said: “Muhammad ibn Idris alone, meaning in his time, is taken as proof, just as a tribe of the Arabs is taken as proof.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, printed by al Halabi, 2/161.)

The Poetry of al Shafiʿi

Poetry is talent first, and skill gained second. When both gather in a person, that person becomes a strong poet. If talent stands alone, the poetry is weak.

If it is neglected, it shrinks, then dries up. If skill stands alone, it becomes knowledge, not poetry, and if poetry exists, it is closer to simple rhyming than to real poetry.

There is no doubt that al Shafiʿi had both talent and learned skill. If he wanted, he could have competed with the strongest poets of his time.

I say “if he wanted”, because he did not want that. He directed his gifts, his mind, and his heart toward the Sunnah, fiqh, and ijtihad. Even so, he left good poetry that rose above the poetry of jurists, while it did not reach the level of the greatest poets. Al Qifti (d. 646 AH) said: “He had poetry that was above the poetry of jurists.” (al Muhammadoon, 138.)

Much poetry has been attributed to al Shafiʿi that is not authentic from him. Those who wrote in his lifetime, or wrote his biography, narrated many lines from him. Some of it seems like it is truly his, and some of it is doubtful.

It is certain that he had poetry better than what was narrated, yet it did not reach us, as shown by the testimony of the scholar of adab, al Mubarrad (d. 286 AH), who lived close to his time, when he said: “May Allah have mercy on al Shafiʿi, for he was among the most poetic of people, the most refined of people, and the most knowing of them of the Qur’an.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 62.)

Some people gathered a diwan for him, yet much of what is in it is not authentic from him. If al Shafiʿi had cared to have a diwan, many of his students would have rushed to support that.

There is no doubt that al Shafiʿi, because of his Arab roots, his stay among Hudhayl, his memorisation of much Arab poetry, and his comfort with reciting and listening to it, would feel poetry rise in his chest from time to time when a moment pushed him toward it.

What is not narrated from al Shafiʿi are long poems like what we know from the famous poets. This shows that he did not want poetry as a hobby or a goal. Rather, he would compose short pieces, usually between 2 or 3 lines, and rarely reaching 10, or at least, this is what reached us.

Most of his poetic themes came from a passing moment, or a social or religious lesson, or an experience from his dealings with people and life. Much of his poetry is suitable to be quoted as a common example, in whatever context it fits.

Here is some of what was narrated from his poetry.

Among it is what he said, announcing his love for the family of the Prophet ﷺ and holding firmly to their rope, no matter what is said about him, even if he is accused of rejection.

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman (d. 270 AH) said: I performed hajj with Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi. He did not climb a rise or descend into a valley except that he began saying:

“O rider, stop at al Muhassab of Mina, and call out to the resident of its Khayf and the one rising above it. At dawn, when the pilgrims pour into Mina, pouring like the overflowing Euphrates. If loving the family of Muhammad is rejection, then let humans and jinn bear witness that I am a rejector.” (al Intiqaʾ, 90–91.) (Al Muhassab is a place between Makkah and Mina, nearer to Mina. It is the flat open ground of Makkah. Al Khayf is Khayf Banu Kinanah, at the start of the open ground, and “the one rising above it” is what is higher than the Khayf, because the Khayf is what rises above the streambed and slopes down from the hard part of the mountain.)

In his longing for the homeland where he was born, Gaza of Hashim, and his leaving it when he was 2 years old, he said:

“I long for the land of Gaza, even if, after separation, my silence betrays me. May Allah water a land whose soil, if I could touch it, I would use it as kohl for my eyelids from the strength of longing.” (Muʿjam al Buldan, 6/290.)

Al Shafiʿi was among the most perceptive people in the eloquence of short speech, and among the most skilled in using it, and among the most displeased with empty and useless talk. Because of this he said:

“There is no good in filling speech, when you have been guided to its best parts. Silence is more beautiful for a young man than speech that comes at the wrong time. A young man’s nature has signs that appear on his face.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 73.)

The last line is close in meaning to the saying of Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma: “Whatever trait is in a man, even if he thinks it is hidden from people, it will be known.”

Many times, his chest would be cooled and his eye would settle when he answered, if asked, with an answer strengthened by evidence, that the heart finds ease in, and that lands in the questioner’s heart. Then poetry would take him with a noble impulse, and with the delight of knowledge and honour.

A man came to al Shafiʿi, as al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman narrated, and asked him about an issue. He answered him.

The man said: May Allah reward you with good. Al Hakim (d. 405 AH) and al Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) reported that the man’s question to al Shafiʿi was as follows: A man swore: “If there are more than 3 dirhams in my sleeve, then my slave is free.” There were 4 dirhams in his sleeve. Al Shafiʿi said: He did not break his oath. The man said: Why. He said: Because he excluded more than 1 dirham.

The man said: “I believe in the One who gave your mouth speech.” Al Shafiʿi then began saying:

“When hard matters confront me, I uncover their truths by looking carefully. A tongue like the strong cry of a camel, or like the well known Yemeni sword. I am not a follower who asks this one and that one: what is the report. Rather, I am a master of the 2 small things, bringing good and releasing evil.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/309.) (The origin of “the strong cry” is something like a piece of flesh that the camel brings out when it is stirred. Then it was used for strong speech and clear expression. From that is the saying of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib: “That was a strong cry that burst out, then settled.” “The strong breed” refers to camels linked to the tribe of Arhab, a clan of Hamdan.) (A follower is a man who follows everyone in his opinion and does not stand firm on anything.) (A master here means the one who takes the lead in speech and the hand during dispute. The 2 small things are the tongue and the heart.)

Al Shafiʿi tasted the flavours of life, tested its hard wood, and knew its people. Throughout his life he tried, with effort, to find a friend who would support him, and this exhausted him, until he said:

“A friend who does not benefit on a day of hardship is close to an enemy in comparison. A friend is not sought in every age except for comfort, and brothers are only for comfort. I lived the whole life, with effort, seeking a trusted brother, and my seeking failed. Lands became strange to me, until it was as though their people were not people.” (Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, 1/301.)

In the next piece he described what he wished for from friends, those whom he spent his life striving to find. If he found them, he would have shared with them the wealth of this universe and the reward of the Hereafter, if that was within his power.

Al Muzani mentioned that al Shafiʿi took his hand and said:

“I love, among brothers, every loyal one, and every one who lowers his gaze over slips. He stays with me in every matter I love, and protects me while I live and after my death. Who will give me this. If only I had found him, I would have shared my wealth with him along with good deeds.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 74.)

The poet ʿAbbas al Azraq challenged al Shafiʿi when he entered upon him. He said: Abu ʿAbd Allah, I have composed lines. If you complete them with lines like them, I will repent from composing poetry.

Al Shafiʿi said: Go on. So he recited:

“My concern is only to strike at enemies. The time was created, but my concern was not created. People’s eyes are on taking wealth, and they do not ask about sound judgement or madness. If wealth came by tricks, you would find me clinging to the stars of the sky.”

Al Shafiʿi said to him: Why did you not say as I say. Then he began, in easy speech:

“The one who was given ease, yet did not gain reward and praise, is not truly granted success. Hard effort brings near every far matter, and hard effort opens every closed door. When you hear that a fortunate man gained a branch that bore fruit in his hands, believe it.

When you hear that a deprived man came to water to drink, yet fell in, then confirm it. Evidence for decree and its reality is the hardship of the intelligent man and the comfort of the foolish man. The most deserving of worry is the man of high aim who is tested with a narrow life.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 74–75.)

Much other poetry was narrated from al Shafiʿi besides this. It is found in the books of those who wrote his biography, such as Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, Hilyat al Awliyaʾ, Tarikh Baghdad, Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah, and many others. I only mentioned examples from his poetry so that this book would not be empty of it.

His Knowledge of the Days of the People

By “the days of the people” is meant the history of the Arabs in their pre Islam time, in their events, battles, raids, what happened between them, or with their neighbours such as the Persians and the Romans, along with the narration of the poetry said about that. A man is not considered a person of adab in early Islam unless he has knowledge of the days of the people.

Al Shafiʿi completed early the tools of the person of adab, including knowledge of the days of the people. Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah al Zubayri said: “I have not seen anyone more knowing of the days of the people than al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/60.) The statement of al Rabiʿ has already been mentioned: “When al Shafiʿi was alone in his house, he was like a torrent roaring about the days of the Arabs.”

al Shafiʿi’s Knowledge of Lineages

One of the things al Shafiʿi cared for in his early age was knowledge of lineages. He took a large share of it when he travelled to the desert, speaking directly with Bedouins and hearing from them.

He became skilled in knowing the days of the Arabs and their lineages, along with what he memorised of their poetry and adab.

Al Muzani said: “Al Shafiʿi came to us, and Ibn Hisham, the author of the Maghazi, came to him. He discussed with him the lineages of men. Al Shafiʿi said to him, after they discussed: ‘Leave the lineages of men, for they will not leave us and they will not leave you. Come with us to the lineages of women.’

When they entered that, Ibn Hisham remained silent.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/175.) (In Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, pages 246–249 and pages 252–270, there is a detailed discussion by al Shafiʿi about the lineages of Quraysh.)

His Insight and His Looking at the Stars

Insight, with a kasrah on the first letter, comes from looking carefully and taking signs. It is said: he looked carefully into a thing, meaning he took signs from it. (As in Taj al ʿArus, entry “frs”.)

Insight can be through hitting a sharp guess and likely thought, as the poet said:

“The quick witted one who thinks likely thought about you, has already seen and heard.”

From that is what is narrated from ʿUmar, with its meaning: “You do not benefit from a man’s mind until you benefit from his likely thought.”

It can also be through signs, experiences, character, and manners, by which the states of people are known. The Arabs cared for insight in their pre Islam time and in Islam, in both forms, and people wrote books about it, old and new. (As al Zabidi says in Taj al ʿArus.)

Al Shafiʿi cared for insight as knowledge and as experience. He practised it practically. He likely took it when he stayed closely with Bedouins in the desert while he was small, then he obtained its books from Yemen, and he also looked into the stars. Al Rabiʿ said: “Al Shafiʿi had strong knowledge of insight.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/65.) Al Shafiʿi said: “I travelled to Yemen seeking the books of insight, until I wrote them all down.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/175.)

As for his looking into the stars, Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas said: Al Shafiʿi, while young, used to look into the stars. He did not look into anything except that he understood it and grasped it.

One day he sat while a man’s wife was giving birth, and he calculated and said: She will give birth to a one eyed girl, with a mole on her private part, and she will die at such and such. She gave birth, and it was as he said. Then he placed on himself that he would never look into the stars again, and he buried those books that he had. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

Al Hakim reported it through Harmlah: Al Shafiʿi used to look into books of the stars, and he had a friend. He mentioned the story, and in it: he said: She will give birth in 27 days. He said: On his left thigh is a black mole, and he will live 24 days, then die suddenly. He said: Then al Shafiʿi burned those books, and never again looked into anything of that. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 65.)

Al Subki said in al Tabaqat: Know that someone may object to this imam looking into the stars. Someone might reply that this was in his early youth. This is not an answer. The issue of looking into the stars is serious and difficult.

The summary is that looking into it, for someone who wants to understand what its people hold, is not denied, but believing in its effect and what its people claim, this is what is denied. Al Shafiʿi did not say it is permissible, and neither did anyone else. I say: his burying the books, or burning them, is evidence that al Shafiʿi feared believing in their effect, and he returned from reading them and acting on what is in them.

If al Shafiʿi destroyed the books of the stars, that does not mean he left insight. Rather, there are stories narrated about his insight in all stages of his life. Among the most striking is what al Humaydi narrated, when he said: Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi said:

“I travelled to Yemen seeking the books of insight, until I wrote them and gathered them. When the time came for me to leave, I passed a man on my route. He was sitting with his knees drawn up in the front area of his house. He had blue eyes, a raised forehead, and he had no beard. I said to him: Is there lodging.

He said: Yes. Al Shafiʿi said: This description is among the worst in insight. He hosted me. I saw the most generous man.

He sent me dinner, perfume, fodder for my animal, and bedding and a cover. I kept turning through the night, saying: What do I do with these books, when I saw this description in this man, yet I saw the most generous man. I said: I will throw these books away.

When morning came, I said to the servant: Saddle. So he saddled. I rode and passed him. I said: If you come to Makkah and pass by Dhu Tuwa, ask for the house of Muhammad ibn Idris al Shafiʿi.

The man said: Am I a freed slave of your father. I said: No.

He said: Have you had a kindness from me. I said: No.

He said: Where is what I spent on you last night. I said: What was it.

He said: I bought food for you for 2 dirhams, and relish for such and such, and perfume for 3 dirhams, and fodder for your animal for 2 dirhams, and rent for bedding and cover for 2 dirhams.

Al Shafiʿi said: I said: Servant, give it to him. Is anything left.

He said: The rent of the house, because I made space for you and made it tight for myself.

Al Shafiʿi said: I felt glad that I still had those books. I said to him after that: Is anything left.

He said: Go on, may Allah disgrace you. I never saw anyone worse than you.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 129.) (Al Humaydi is ʿAbd Allah ibn al Zubayr al Humaydi al Asadi, one of the imams of hadith from the people of Makkah. He travelled from it with al Shafiʿi to Egypt and stayed with him until he died. He is the shaykh of al Bukhari. He died in Makkah in 219 AH.) (It is said: a man with no beard, or with very light sides of the face.) (To saddle the horse means to fasten its saddle.)

Al Shafiʿi had astonishing events in near certainty and accurate likely thought. Among them is what al Muzani narrated. He said: I was with al Shafiʿi in the main masjid when a man entered, walking around the sleepers.

Al Shafiʿi said to al Rabiʿ: Stand and say to him: Have you lost a black slave, with one injured eye.

Al Rabiʿ said: I stood and said it to him. He said: Yes. I said: Come. So he came to al Shafiʿi. The man said: Where is my slave. He said: Go, you will find him in prison.

The man went and found him in prison. Al Muzani said: I said to him: Tell us, for you have puzzled us. He said: Yes.

I saw a man enter from the door of the masjid, moving among sleepers, so I said: he is seeking a runaway. I saw him go to the black people rather than the white, so I said: a black slave ran from him. I saw him go toward the left eye area, so I said: one eye is injured.

They said: What told you he is in prison. He said: The hadith about slaves is: if they are hungry they steal, and if they are full they commit adultery. So I understood that he did one of the 2, and it was so. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 129.)

In this story there is precise quick thought, brilliant deduction, deep understanding, and full belief in the Prophetic hadith, which he used to be accurate in his quick thought, and what he said happened.

From his insight is what was narrated through Khuzaymah: The brother of al Rabiʿ passed in the courtyard of the main masjid. Al Shafiʿi called me and said: Rabiʿ, is your brother the one walking. I said: Yes. He had not seen him before that. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 66.)

From that is what al Rabiʿ narrated. He said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: A man from Sanaʿa came to us. When I saw him, I said to him: You are from Sanaʿa. He said: Yes. I said: You are a blacksmith. He said: Yes. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 66.)

Al Shafiʿi once tested near certainty with Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH). They were sitting in the courtyard of the Kaʿbah. A man passed. One said to the other: Come, let us test what craft this man has.

One said: tailor, and the other said: carpenter. They sent for him and asked him. He said: I used to be a tailor, and today I am a carpenter.

From the insight of al Shafiʿi is what was narrated from al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman. He said: We entered upon al Shafiʿi at his death: I, al Buwayti, al Muzani, and Ibn ʿAbd al Hakam. Al Shafiʿi looked at us for a long time, then turned to us and said: “As for you, Abu Yaʿqub, you will die in your iron.

As for you, Muzani, you will have matters in Egypt, and matters. You will reach a time when you will be the strongest in analogy among the people of that time. As for you, Muhammad, you will return to the madhhab of your father. As for you, Rabiʿ, you are the most beneficial to me in spreading the books.” Al Rabiʿ said: And it was as he said. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 85.)

Al Shafiʿi continued until the end of his life to feel uneasy through insight from some outward traits, such as blond hair and blue eyes. Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: I bought perfume for al Shafiʿi for 1 dinar. He said to me: From whom did you buy it. I said: From that blond man. He said: Blond, blue eyed, return it, return it. (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 131.)

He also held that intellect leaves the fat man. He said: “I have not seen a fat man with intellect except 1 man.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 132.) (That one man is Muhammad ibn al Hasan, as he stated in Rawd al Akhbar.)

He also used to read the students of knowledge, to see whether they carry writing tools so that people call them students, or whether they truly write and benefit and seek knowledge and strive for it.

Al Shafiʿi said: “If you want to know whether a man truly writes, then look where he places his inkwell. If he places it on his left, or in front of him, then know that he is not a true writer.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 135.) (Al Shafiʿi stated that this is a sign of foolishness.)

al Shafiʿi Taking Omens

Al Shafiʿi taking omens did not come from weakness, or from a fragile temperament. Rather, it came from the art of insight.

What this art accepts is that the one with a physical defect is feared for his harm, because of a sense of shortage that grows in him hatred, spite, and plotting, to cover what he lacks. Because of this al Shafiʿi used to say:

“Beware the one eyed man, and the squint eyed man, and the limping man, and the hunchback, and the blond man, and the beardless man, and everyone who has a defect in his body, and everyone with a shortcoming in character. Beware him, because he is a man of twisting, and dealing with him is hard.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 132.) (Beardless means the one who has no beard at all.)

He said another time: “They are people of deceit.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 132.)

He used to say: “Keep away from people with physical defects.” (al Wafi bi al Wafayat, 2/174.)

al Shafiʿi and Medicine

We do not know an imam among the imams of the religion who cared for medicine as al Shafiʿi did, and who urged learning it as he did. He used to see it as a part of the knowledge of the religion.

This is for fixing the Hereafter, and that is for fixing bodies. It was narrated from him that he said: “Knowledge is only 2 kinds: knowledge of religion, and knowledge of this universe. Knowledge of religion is fiqh, and knowledge of this universe is medicine.” (Adab al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuh, 321–322.)

He also said: “I do not know a knowledge, after what is permissible and what is not, that is more noble than medicine, except that the people of the Book have overcome us in it.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, comment on 321.)

He used to feel regret over what Muslims lost of medicine. He said: “They wasted one third of knowledge and handed it to the Jews and Christians.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, comment on 321.) He also said: “2 things people neglected: Arabic and medicine.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, comment on 321.)

As for al Shafiʿi’s knowledge of medicine, al Rabiʿ said about him: “He had complete knowledge of medicine.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/65.)

A doctor in Egypt, who lived in his time, testified to al Shafiʿi’s knowledge and skill. He wished that al Shafiʿi would read the book of Hippocrates with him. Abu Husayn al Basri said: I heard a doctor in Egypt say: Al Shafiʿi came to Egypt, and he discussed medicine with me until I thought he was skilled in nothing else. Then he said: “These people do not leave me.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 66.)

Many sayings and views in medicine were narrated from al Shafiʿi. We will mention some of them. Like his saying: “Eating broad beans increases the brain, and eating meat increases the intellect.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 323.)

Like his saying: “I have not seen anything more beneficial for plague than violet, used as oil on the body and drunk.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 324.)

He also has a line that warns people against what doctors prescribe:

“Beware taking a medicine from these doctors, except a medicine you recognise.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 323.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 66.)

Al Shafiʿi only said this out of fear that they might insert into medicines impure, harmful, or poisonous materials.

That was at a time when people shared with doctors knowledge of the basic materials that medicines were made from. As for after knowledge of medicines and their elements became specialised and far from the reach of common people, then there is no place for this warning.

The Writings of al Shafiʿi

We do not know, before al Shafiʿi, an imam with writings in foundations and branches, fiqh and its evidences, and even in tafsir and adab, with the amount, skill, and firm mastery that al Shafiʿi had. Ibn Zulaq said: Al Shafiʿi authored about 200 parts. (Shadharat al Dhahab, 2/10.) (Ibn Zulaq is likely al Hasan ibn ʿAli ibn Zulaq al Misri al Zulaqi. He narrated from Yahya ibn Sulayman al Juʿfi, and Sulayman ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyub al Tabarani narrated from him.)

The imam judge Abu Muhammad al Hasan ibn Muhammad al Marwazi said in the introduction to his commentary: It was said: al Shafiʿi authored 113 books in tafsir, fiqh, adab, and other than that. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/53.)

He was a wonder in speed of writing while still having accuracy, maturity, and mastery. He may have completed a book in half a day. Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla (d. 264 AH) said: “Al Shafiʿi used to produce the book from morning until noon.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.)

It was astonishing that he authored all these books while he lived no more than 54 years. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said: His father was asked: “How did al Shafiʿi produce all these books, when he was not old.” I heard him say: “Allah made his intellect quick because his life was short.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 79.)

If we know that he did not author most of his books except in the last 10 years of his life, rather, that most of his writings, and the greatest of them, and the most wide reaching, and the most beneficial, were produced during his stay in Egypt, which was 4 years, along with a severe lasting illness and constant bleeding, then we understand something of his genius, the blessing in his life, the control of his mind, and the victory of his spirit over the weakness of his body.

Al Rabiʿ said: “Al Shafiʿi stayed here 4 years, and he dictated 1500 pages, and Kitab al Umm came out as 2000 pages, and the book of Sunan, and many things, all within 4 years. He was sick with severe illness, and blood may come out while he was riding until his trousers and his leather sock filled, meaning from haemorrhoids.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 83.)

How He Used to Write and Produce His Books

Al Hakim (d. 405 AH) reported, through Harmlah (d. 243 AH), who said: “Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) used to sit by this pillar in the masjid. A small rug would be laid out for him, and he would sit on it and bend his face down, because he was often ill, and he would write. He produced these books in 4 years.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 78.)

Al Rabiʿ (d. 270 AH) said: “I saw al Shafiʿi more times than I can count. When he left, he would wrap himself in his cloak. A small lamp would be set for him. He would lean on a cushion, with 2 mats beneath him, and he would take the pen and keep writing.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ, 1/66.)

Sometimes he would go to his bed to sleep, then a thought would come to him about the meaning of a report, or its jurisprudence, and he would fear it might slip away, so he would get up, the lamp would be lit for him, and he would write. Al Humaydi (d. 219 AH), who was his student in Makkah and followed him to Egypt, said: “I travelled with al Shafiʿi to Egypt. He lived on the upper floor, and we were in the middle rooms.

Sometimes I would go out during the night and see the lamp, so I would call out to the servant. He would hear my voice and say: ‘By my right over you, come up.’ So I would go up, and there would be paper and an inkwell. I would say: ‘Enough, Abu ʿAbd Allah.’ He would say: ‘I reflected on the meaning of a report, or on an issue, and I feared it might slip away from me, so I ordered the lamp, and I wrote it.’” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 44.)

Al Rabiʿ said: I stayed close to al Shafiʿi before he entered Egypt. He had a black female servant. He would work through a chapter of knowledge, then say: “Servant, stand and saddle.” She would saddle for him, and he would write what he needed, then he would put out the lamp. He continued like that for a year. I said: “Abu ʿAbd Allah, this servant is exhausted because of you.” He said: “The lamp distracts my heart.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.)

As for his method of producing the book, he would place the references in front of him, and sometimes he would not need them because of his memorisation, and he would write. When the book was complete and settled, Ibn Hurm would come to him, and Ibn Hurm used to stay close to him.

Ibn Hurm would write what al Shafiʿi composed. Al Buwayti (d. 231 AH) would read it to him, and those present would listen, then they would copy it afterwards.

Bahr ibn Nasr al Khawlani said: Al Shafiʿi came from the Hijaz and stayed in Egypt for 4 years, and he produced these books. He had brought with him from the Hijaz the books of Ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH). He went to Yahya ibn Hassan and wrote from him, and he took books from Ashhab with issues in them. (Yahya ibn Hassan ibn Hayyan al Bakri, Abu Zakariyya, from Tinnis in Egypt, narrated from the two Hammads. Al Shafiʿi narrated from him, and Ahmad ibn Salih narrated from him. Ahmad, al ʿAjli, and al Nasaʾi graded him trustworthy. He died in 208 AH.)

He would place the books in front of him and write. When a book was completed, Ibn Hurm would come and write. Al Buwayti would read it to him, and everyone present would listen to Ibn Hurm’s copy, then they would copy it afterwards. Al Rabiʿ would take care of al Shafiʿi’s needs. Sometimes he would be absent for an errand, so they would inform him. When he returned, al Rabiʿ would read to al Shafiʿi what he had missed. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.)

He used to strive, in what he authored, to be clear to all people. If he had wanted to author according to his natural Arabic style, only the specialists would have understood him. Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: “If you had seen al Shafiʿi, the beauty of his expression, and his eloquence, you would have been amazed.

If he had authored these books in the Arabic style that he used with us in debate, no one would have been able to read his books, because of his eloquence and the rare words he used. But in his authoring, he used to strive to make things clear to the general people.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.) (The general people here does not mean illiterate people. It means those who are not from the specialists.)

The Scholars’ Care for His Writings

Allah granted al Shafiʿi’s writings acceptance and wide use. Scholars passed them on, desired to copy them and listen to them, and competed to possess them. One time, 900 mounts came to the door of al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman, his servant, student, and the main transmitter of his books, each one eager to hear the books of al Shafiʿi from al Rabiʿ and transmit them from him. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ, 1/48.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) used to say about al Shafiʿi’s favour upon scholars and authors: “No one ever touched an inkwell or a pen except that al Shafiʿi has a favour upon his neck.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 57.)

ʿAbd al Malik al Maymuni said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me: “I have not looked into the book of anyone who produced books of jurisprudence other than al Shafiʿi. He said to me: ‘Why do you not look into them.’ He pointed me to the book al Risalah, and he placed it first among his books.” (Adab al Shafiʿi, 62.)

Qutaybah ibn Saʿid said: “If the books of al Shafiʿi reached me, I would copy them. My eyes have not seen anything more intelligent than them.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ, 1/60.) (Qutaybah ibn Saʿid al Thaqafi, Abu Rajaʾ, from Baghla or Bughlan, a village of Balkh, was one of the imams of reports. He narrated from Malik and al Layth. Al Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, and al Nasaʾi narrated from him. Ahmad and al Humaydi were among his peers. Ibn Maʿin and Abu Hatim graded him trustworthy. He died in 240 AH.)

Harmlah said: My father had assigned a scribe for me, and he said to the scribe: “Write everything al Shafiʿi says.”

Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn al Madini said: My father said to me: Do not leave a single letter from al Shafiʿi except that you write it. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ, 1/60.)

Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn al Madini said: “I do not leave a single letter from al Shafiʿi except that I write it, because it contains knowledge.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 57.)

Muhammad ibn Yaʿqub said: I heard ʿAli ibn al Madini say to ʿAli ibn al Mubarak, after he mentioned an issue: “Hold firmly to the books of al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 57.)

Ahmad ibn Salamah al Naysaburi said: Ishaq ibn Rahawayh married a woman whose husband had the books of al Shafiʿi. The husband died, and Ishaq only married her for the books of al Shafiʿi. Then he built his al Jamiʿ al Kabir upon the book of al Shafiʿi. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

Abu Ismaʿil al Tirmidhi came to Naysabur, and he had the books of al Shafiʿi from al Buwayti. He said: Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said to me: “I have a need from you.” I said: What is it. He said: “Do not narrate the books of al Shafiʿi as long as you are in Naysabur.” He agreed, and he did not narrate them until he left Naysabur.

Al Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) said: Ishaq, despite his high rank in knowledge, wanted his own writing in Naysabur in jurisprudence to become well known instead of al Shafiʿi. But Allah wanted the books of the one who used to say: “I do not mind if people copy my books and study jurisprudence through them, then do not attribute them to me.” (This is the statement of al Shafiʿi.) So what Allah wanted happened, not what others wanted. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

This is only a small portion of how the scholars of his time clung to his books, and even to every letter he spoke or wrote. That was only because of his great sincerity, the purity of his inner state, his preference to benefit others, his detachment from the pleasures of the universe and its decorations, and his desire for what is with Allah.

How great he was, sincere, noble, and above small things and outward display, when he said: “I never debated anyone seeking dominance, and I would love that all creation learn this book, and that nothing from it be attributed to me.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

Abu Ahmad ibn ʿAdi said: “I heard Abu Bakr ibn Abi Hamid, the head of the public treasury in Egypt, say: We were in the gathering of Ibn al Furat, and in the gathering was Abu Musa al Darir, the shaykh of the people of opinion at that time. Ibn al Furat said to Abu Musa: ‘I will ask you about 2 men, so answer me about them.’

He said: ‘The minister says.’ He said: ‘Yahya ibn Aktham, his knowledge is not denied, and his rank with the ruler is known, to the point that al Maʾmun used to bring him into his bed. He produced books. His eloquence and his knowledge are not denied. Yet I do not think 2 people would unite upon his view. As for al Shafiʿi, he came to Iraq wrapped in a cloak. He has no rank with the ruler.

He produced books. Yet I see his mention rising every day, and unity upon his view increasing.’ Abu Musa was silent for a while, then said: ‘I say: Allah intended good for al Shafiʿi through his knowledge, so Allah raised him.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

Al Hakim reported through Mahfuz ibn Abi Tawbah, who said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “They say: I only oppose them for the universe.

How can that be, when the universe is with them. A person only seeks the universe for his stomach and his private part. I have prevented the most pleasurable foods, and there is no path to marriage,” meaning because of his haemorrhoids, “but I only oppose the one who opposes the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

His Beginning in Authoring, and a Listing of His Books

He began authoring when he went to Iraq the second time, to declare his madhhab, spread his independent reasoning, support the Sunnah, and respond to those who opposed it.

That was in the year 195 AH, when the scholars of reports gathered around him, benefitting from his knowledge, his jurisprudence, and his independent reasoning, and seeking strength through his intellect, his evidence, and his expression. Al Humaydi said: “We used to want to respond to the people of opinion, and we could not do it well, until al Shafiʿi came to us, and opened it for us.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

It appears that the first book he produced in Iraq was the book al Hujjah, which contains his earlier madhhab, if we say that the book al Risalah was produced in Makkah in response to the request of ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi, before his second arrival to Iraq. The view of Fakhr al Din al Razi is that he produced it in Iraq, so al Risalah, on that view, would be his first book produced in Iraq, then after it came al Hujjah.

The motive for producing it was responding to the people of opinion. Al Shafiʿi said: “The people of reports gathered around me and asked me to produce a book against the book of Abu Hanifah.

I said: I do not know their view until I look into their books. So I ordered it, and the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan were copied for me. I looked into them for a year until I memorised them. Then I produced the Baghdad book,” meaning al Hujjah. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 76.)

This does not mean that the book al Hujjah was produced entirely as a response to the people of opinion. Rather, it is a book of independent reasoning. It researches all areas of jurisprudence, and among its discussions is responding to opponents. Because of this, it is a collection of books, similar to the book al Umm, which is also a collection of parts, reaching about 140 books and more.

Al Shafiʿi’s habit was to author in specific topics, such as Ikhtilaf al Hadith, Jimaʿ al ʿIlm, Ibtal al Istihsan, and other than that. Then these writings were gathered into a single book. Rather, al Shafiʿi wished that he could place, for every issue, a separate part. He said: “If it would not become too long for people, I would have placed, in every issue, a part containing evidences and explanation.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 62.)

He authored in topics that no one before him had authored in. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “No one preceded al Shafiʿi in the book on jizyah.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 77.)

It is known about al Shafiʿi that he could author a book from memory when references were not available. Al Rabiʿ said: “Al Shafiʿi authored this book,” meaning al Mabsut, “from memory. No book was with him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 78.)

Here are the names of al Shafiʿi’s books, listed as they appear in Muʿjam al Udabaʾ. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/324.)

Book of Purification
Book: The Issue of Semen
Book: Facing the Qiblah
Book of Leadership in Prayer
Book: Making the Friday Prayer Obligatory
Book of the Two Eid Prayers
Book of the Eclipse Prayer
Book of the Prayer for Rain
Book of Funeral Prayers
Book: The Ruling on the One Who Leaves the Prayer
Book: The Obligatory Prayer and Voluntary Prayer, and Fasting
The Major Book of Zakah
Book of Zakat al Fitr
Book of Zakah on the Wealth of the Orphan
The Major Book of Fasting
The Major Book of Pilgrimage Rites
The Middle Book of Pilgrimage Rites
A Summary of Pilgrimage Rites
Book of Hunting and Slaughtering
The Major Book of Sales
Book of Exchange and Trade
The Major Book of Pledge
The Small Book of Pledge
The Book al Risalah
Book: Rulings of the Qur’an
Book: Differences in Reports
Book: Jimaʿ al ʿIlm
Book: Oath with One Witness
Book of Testimonies
The Major Book of Hiring
Book: Renting Camels and Mounts
Book of Hiring, Dictation
Book: Disagreement Between the Worker and the Hirer
Book: Claims and Evidence
Book: Admissions and Gifts
Book: Returning Inheritances
Book: Explaining What Allah, Exalted is He, Made Obligatory
Book: Description of the Prophet’s Prohibition ﷺ
Book: Maintenance for Relatives
Book of Sharecropping
Book of Orchard Leasing
The Major Book of Wills
Book: Wills by Manumission
Book: A Will for an Heir
Book: The Will of a Pregnant Woman
Book: Charity of the Living on Behalf of the Dead
Book of the Contracted Slave
Book of the Declared Free Slave After Death
Book: Manumission of Mothers of Children
Book: Injury Against the Mother of a Child
Book: Patronage and Alliance
Book: Indirect Proposal
Book of Dowry
Book: Living With Women
Book: Prohibiting What is Gathered of Women
Book of Shighar
Book: Permissibility of Divorce
Book of Waiting Period
Book of Ilaʾ
Book of Khulʿ and Nushuz
Book of Breastfeeding
Book of Zihar
Book of Liʿan
Book: Manners of the Judge
Book of Conditions
Book: Differences of the Iraqis
Book: Differences of ʿAli and ʿAbd Allah
Book: The Conduct of al Awzaʿi
Book of Usurpation
Book of Entitlement
Book of Judgements
Book: One of the 2 Sons Admits a Brother
Book of Settlement
Book of Fighting the People of Rebellion
Book of Captives and Ghulul
Book of Qasamah
Book of Jizyah
Book: Cutting for Theft
Book of Prescribed Punishments
The Major Book of the Apostate
The Small Book of the Apostate
Book of the Male Sorcerer and Female Sorcerer
Book of Qirad
Book of Oaths and Vows
Book of Drinks
Book of Deposit
Book of ʿUmra
Book of Selling Mushafs
Book: The Doctor’s Mistake
Book: Injury by the Teacher of Writing
Book: Injury by the Farrier and the Cupper
Book: The Collision of 2 Horses and 2 Persons
Book: Reaching Maturity
Book: Disagreement of Spouses About Household Goods
Book: Description of the Self
Book: Virtues of Quraysh and the Ansar
Book of the Feast
Book: The Charge of the Male
Book of Sacrifices
Book of the Bahirah and the Saʾibah
Book: Division of Charities
Book of Iʿtikaf
Book of Shufʿah
Book: Racing and Archery
Book of Returning to Marriage
Book of the Foundling and the Abandoned Child
Book: Transfer and Guarantee
Book: Renting Land
Book of Insolvency
Book of the Lost Item
Book: The Obligation of Charity
Book: Division of Fayʾ
Book of Drawing Lots
Book of the Prayer of Fear
Book of Blood Money
Book of Jihad
Book: Wounds of Intentional Harm
Book of Estimation
Book of Manumission
Book: Developing Lands
Book: Ibtal al Istihsan
Book of Compensation Payments
Book of Guardians
Book: Response to Muhammad ibn al Hasan
Book: The Person of Opinion
Book: The Conduct of al Waqidi
Book: Habl al Habalah
Book: The Disagreement of Malik and al Shafiʿi
Book: Highway Robbers

Most of these books are included within the book al Umm, in the narration and hearing of al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman al Muradi, and it is the firmest and most sound narration. Harmlah carried from him a large book called Kitab al Sunan. Al Muzani carried from him his book al Mabsut, which is the large summary and the scattered pieces, as well as the well known summary.

His writings are of 3 kinds. Either their topic is foundations, such as al Risalah, Ikhtilaf al Hadith, Sifat al Amr wa al Nahy, and Ibtal al Istihsan.

Or their topic is jurisprudence, and most of his writings are on that, such as the prayers, sales, sharecropping, claims and evidence, and many others. Or their topic is responding to opponents, such as the book Response to Muhammad ibn al Hasan, the disagreement of Malik and al Shafiʿi, and the conduct of al Awzaʿi.

Some writings are not connected to foundations or branches, such as the virtues of Quraysh, and racing and archery.

Here is an interesting account about the books of al Shafiʿi. It is a dream al Shafiʿi saw, showing what decree had prepared for him, of knowledge that would spread across the lands of Islam.

Al Rabiʿ said: I heard al Shafiʿi say: “I was shown in a dream as though someone came to me, carried my books, and scattered them into the air, so they flew. I told it to some interpreters, and he said: If your dream is true, no land of the lands of Islam will remain except that your knowledge enters it.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 52.)

The Teachers of al Shafiʿi

It has already been mentioned, in his upbringing in Makkah, that the first teacher al Shafiʿi sought when he resolved to study jurisprudence was Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanjī. Then he attended the gathering of Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH). Then the causes were made easy for him to go to Madinah to take from Malik (d. 179 AH). Then, when his hardship drove him to Iraq, he copied the books of Muhammad ibn al Hasan and heard them from him.

These were the teachers who benefitted him most and influenced him most. The greatest of them in influence and benefit were Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah and Malik, and it is narrated from al Shafiʿi: “When scholars are mentioned, Malik is the star.”

Al Shafiʿi had many teachers besides them, from different lands and different views and directions. Abu al Walid ibn Abi al Jarud said: “We used to say, we and our companions among the people of Makkah, that al Shafiʿi took the books of Ibn Jurayj from 4 people: from Muslim ibn Khalid, and Saʿid ibn Salim, and these 2 were jurists; and from ʿAbd al Majid ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Rawwad, and he was the most knowing of them about Ibn Jurayj; and from ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith al Makhzumi, and he was among the firm ones. The leadership of jurisprudence in Madinah ended with Malik ibn Anas, so he travelled to him, stayed close to him, and took from him.

The leadership of jurisprudence in Iraq ended with Abu Hanifah, so he took from his companion Muhammad ibn al Hasan many matters, with nothing in them except that he heard it directly from him. So the knowledge of the people of opinion and the knowledge of the people of reports came together for him.

He worked with that until he founded foundations and set rules. Those who agreed with him and those who opposed him submitted to him. His affair became well known, his mention rose, his rank grew, until he became what he became.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 53.)

We will mention his teachers, arranged by the alphabet, as they were arranged by Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) in Tawali al Taʾsis. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 52.)

Ibrahim ibn Saʿd ibn Ibrahim al Zuhri. (Ibrahim ibn Saʿd ibn Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAwf, Abu Ishaq al Madani, lived in Baghdad and was its judge, and one of the leading scholars. Ahmad and Yahya ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy. He died in 183 AH.)

Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Mahdhurah. (Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz, Abu Ismaʿil al Makki, truthful but made mistakes. Al Humaydi and al Shafiʿi narrated from him.)
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Yahya. (Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Yahya, Abu Ishaq al Madani. A leading scholar, though graded weak. Al Shafiʿi narrated from him. Al Thawri graded him trustworthy. He died in 184 AH.)

Ibrahim ibn Hurm
Usamah ibn Zayd ibn Aslam. (Usamah ibn Zayd al ʿAdawi al Madani. Ibn Saʿd said he died in the caliphate of al Mansur.)

Ishaq ibn Yusuf al Azraq. (Ishaq ibn Yusuf, Abu Muhammad al Wasiti, one of the leading scholars, narrated much from Sharik, al Aʿmash, and al Thawri. Ahmad and Ibn Maʿin narrated from him. Ahmad was asked: Is he trustworthy. He said: Yes, by Allah. He died in 195 AH.)

Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim ibn Muqsim. (Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim ibn Muqsim al Asadi, Qurashi by patronage, one of the leading imams. Ahmad said: he was the ultimate in careful confirmation. Ibn Maʿin said: he was trustworthy, reliable, pious. He died in 193 AH.)
Ismaʿil ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abi Kathir. (Ismaʿil ibn Jaʿfar al Zurqi, Abu Ishaq al Madani, the reciter of the people of Madinah. Ahmad ibn Hanbal graded him trustworthy. He died in 180 AH.)

Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Qusṭanṭin
Anas ibn ʿIyad. (Anas ibn ʿIyad, Abu Dumrah al Laythi, narrated from Hisham and Suhayl. Ahmad, al Qaʿnabi, Ahmad ibn Salih, and others narrated from him. Al Nasaʾi and a group graded him trustworthy. He died in 200 AH, at age 96.)

Ayyub ibn Suwayd al Ramli
Jaʿfar ibn Ibrahim al Taʾi

Hatim ibn Ismaʿil al Madani. (Hatim ibn Ismaʿil, originally from Kufah, narrated from al Jaʿd ibn ʿAbd al Rahman and Hisham ibn ʿUrwah. Ishaq, Ibn Maʿin, and others narrated from him. Ibn Saʿd said: he was trustworthy, reliable. He died in 186 AH.)

al Harith ibn ʿUmayr al Basri. (al Harith ibn ʿUmayr al Basiri, Abu ʿUmayr, lived in Makkah, narrated from Ayyub and Humayd. ʿAbd al Warith narrated from him. Ibn Maʿin and al Nasaʾi graded him trustworthy.)

al Hurr ibn Ibrahim
Husayn al Althagh
Hammad ibn Usamah. (Hammad ibn Usamah, Abu Usamah al Hashimi, Kufan, a memoriser. Ahmad said: trustworthy. He died in 201 AH.)

Hammad ibn Zayd al Basri. (Hammad ibn Zayd al Azdi of Basrah. Ibn Mahdi said: I have not seen anyone with stronger memorisation, or more knowledge of the Sunnah, or more jurisprudence in Basrah than him. He died in 197 AH.)

Hammad ibn Zarif
Dawud ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al ʿAttar
Saʿid ibn Salim al Qaddah
Saʿid ibn Salamah ibn Abi al Hussam. (Saʿid ibn Salamah al ʿAdawi, Abu ʿAmr al Madani. Ibn Hibban graded him trustworthy.)

Saʿid ibn Maslamah al Umawi. (Saʿid ibn Maslamah al Jazari. Al Bukhari and al Nasaʾi graded him weak. He remained alive until after 200 AH.)

Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH)
Sulayman ibn ʿAmr
Simak ibn al Fadl al Jundi. (Ibn Hajar mentioned him here, but the correct form is Abu Hanifah ibn Simak ibn al Fadl. The one mentioned in the first wording is very early and al Shafiʿi did not meet him. Al Dawlabi mentioned it correctly in al Kuna wa al Asmaʾ: Abu Hanifah ibn Simak ibn al Fadl narrated from him al Shafiʿi.)

al Dahhak ibn ʿUthman al Hizami. (Abu ʿUthman al Madani. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy, and he died in 153 AH. Based on this date, he cannot be a teacher of al Shafiʿi unless there is an error in the date.)

ʿAbbad ibn al ʿAwwam. (ʿAbbad ibn al ʿAwwam, Abu Sahl al Wasiti. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy. Ibn Saʿd said he leaned toward Shiʿism. He died in 185 AH.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Idris al Awdi. (ʿAbd Allah ibn Idris, Abu Muhammad al Kufi, one of the leading scholars. Ibn Maʿin said: trustworthy in every matter. He died in 192 AH.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith al Makki. (ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith al Makki ibn Abza. Abu Hatim said: a shaykh, there is no harm in him.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al Malik, Abu Safwan al Umawi. (ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al Malik ibn Marwan al Umawi, Abu Safwan al Dimashqi. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy.)
ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak al Marwazi. (One of the leading imams. Ibn ʿUyaynah said: Ibn al Mubarak is the scholar of the East and the West and what is between them. Ibn Maʿin said: trustworthy, sound in reports. He died in 181 AH.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Musa al Taymi. (Abu Hatim said: I do not see harm in his report.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn al Muʾammal. (ʿAbd Allah ibn al Muʾammal al Makhzumi al ʿAbidi. Abu Dawud said: rejected in reports. Ibn ʿAdi graded him weak. Ibn Hibban graded him trustworthy. He died in 167 AH.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Nafiʿ al Saʾigh. (ʿAbd Allah ibn Nafiʿ, the client of Banu Makhzum, Abu Muhammad al Madani. Ibn Maʿin and al Nasaʾi graded him trustworthy. He died in 206 AH.)
ʿAbd Allah ibn al Walid al ʿAdani. (ʿAbd Allah ibn al Walid al Umawi by patronage, Abu Muhammad al Makki. Ahmad said: trustworthy, sound in reports.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al Miliki. (ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn Abi Mulaykah al Taymi al Madani. Ibn Maʿin graded him weak.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn al Hasan ibn al Qasim al Ghassani al Azraq
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi al Zinad ibn Dhakwan. (ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi al Zinad, Qurashi by patronage, Abu Muhammad al Madani. Ibn Maʿin said: what he narrated in Madinah is sound. He died in 174 AH.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar al ʿUmari. (ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah, Abu al Qasim al Madani, lived in Baghdad, one of the weak ones.)

ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Salamah. (ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn ʿAbd Allah al Majishun al Taymi by patronage, al Madani jurist, one of the leading scholars. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy. He died in 166 AH.ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Muhammad al Darawardi. (One of the leading scholars. Ibn Saʿd said: trustworthy, narrated many reports. He died in 189 AH.)

ʿAbd al Majid ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Rawwad
ʿAbd al Karim ibn Muhammad al Khurasani. (ʿAbd al Karim ibn Muhammad al Khurasani, Abu Suhayl al Jurjani, the judge. He was among the best servants of Allah, and he was Murjiʾi. He died after 170 AH.)

ʿAbd al Malik ibn al Walid. (ʿAbd al Malik ibn al Walid ibn Maʿdan al Dubaʿi al Basri. Ibn Maʿin said: righteous.)
ʿAbd al Wahhab ibn ʿAbd al Majid al Thaqafi

ʿAṭṭaf ibn Khalid. (ʿAṭṭaf ibn Khalid ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al ʿAs al Makhzumi. Ibn ʿAdi said: I did not see harm in his reports. Abu Dawud graded him trustworthy.)

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Muḥayṣin
ʿAmr ibn Habib. (ʿAmr ibn Habib al ʿAdawi by patronage, al Basri, the judge of Basrah. He died in 209 AH.)

ʿAmr ibn Abi Salamah al Tinnisi
ʿAmr ibn Yahya ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿid al Umawi
al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad
al Qasim ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar al ʿUmari
Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH)
Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil ibn Abi Fudayk
Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Shaybani
Muhammad ibn Khalid al Jundi. (Muhammad ibn Khalid al Ṣanʿani. Yahya ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy.)

Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas al Shafiʿi. (Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman ibn Shafiʿ al Muṭṭalibi al Makki, the paternal uncle of al Shafiʿi. Ibn Hibban graded him trustworthy.)

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Ansari. (Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Hafs ibn Hisham ibn Zayd ibn Anas ibn Malik al Ansari al Basri. Ibn Hibban graded him trustworthy.)

Muhammad ibn ʿUthman ibn Abi Safwan. (Muhammad ibn ʿUthman ibn Abi Safwan ibn Marwan ibn ʿUthman ibn Abi al ʿAs. Abu Hatim graded him trustworthy. He died in 252 AH.)
Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Shafiʿ. (Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Shafiʿ al Muṭṭalibi, narrated from al Zuhri. His grandson, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al Shafiʿi, narrated from him. Al Shafiʿi graded him trustworthy.)

Muhammad ibn ʿUmar al Waqidi. (Muhammad ibn ʿUmar al Waqidi al Aslami, one of the leading scholars, and judge of Iraq. Musʿab al Zubayri said: I have not seen anyone like him. Al Bukhari graded him abandoned. He died in 207 AH.)

Muhammad ibn Yazid al Wasiti. (Muhammad ibn Yazid al Wasiti al Kalaʿi al Shami. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy. He died in 188 AH.)

Marwan ibn Muʿawiyah al Fazzari. (Marwan ibn Muʿawiyah ibn al Harith ibn Asmaʾ ibn Kharijah al Fazzari, Abu ʿAbd Allah al Kufi, a memoriser, very broad in narration. Ahmad said: firm, memoriser. He died suddenly in 193 AH.)

Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanjī
Muṭarrif ibn Mazin al Ṣanʿani. (He narrated from Maʿmar and Ibn Jurayj. Yahya ibn Maʿin said he lied. Ibn ʿAdi said: I did not see an extremely rejected text from him. He was the judge of Sanaʿa, and he was a righteous man. He died in 191 AH.)

Muʿadh ibn Musa al Juʿfari

Hisham ibn Yusuf al Ṣanʿani. (Hisham ibn Yusuf al Abnawi, Abu ʿAbd al Rahman, judge of Sanaʿa. Abu Hatim said: trustworthy, precise. He died in 197 AH.Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah. (Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah al Ruʾasi al Kufi, a memoriser, one of the leading imams. Ahmad said: I have not seen anyone with stronger retention or stronger memorisation. He died in 196 AH.)

Yahya ibn Hassan al Tinnisi
Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan
Yahya ibn Sulaym al Makki. (Yahya ibn Sulaym al Makki al Taʾifi al Qurashi, graded trustworthy by Ahmad. He died in 231 AH.)

Yazid ibn ʿAbd al Malik al Nawfali. (Yazid ibn ʿAbd al Malik ibn Nawfal ibn al Harith ibn ʿAbd al Muṭṭalib. He narrated from Yazid ibn Khuṣayfah. Maʿn ibn ʿIsa and ʿAbd Allah ibn Nafiʿ narrated from him.)

Yaʿqub ibn Faṣa
Yusuf ibn al Aswad
Yusuf ibn Khalid al Samti. (Abu Khalid Yusuf ibn Khalid ibn ʿUmar al Laythi by patronage, al Samti al Basri. He narrated from al Aʿmash, Ziyad ibn Saʿd, and others. His son Khalid and al ʿAbbas ibn al Walid narrated from him. Ibn Maʿin said he lied. He died in 187 AH.)

Yusuf ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Yazid
Yusuf ibn Yaʿqub ibn al Majishun. (Yusuf ibn Yaʿqub, Abu Salamah al Madani. Ibn Maʿin graded him trustworthy. He died in 185 AH.)

Ibn Abi al Kinan al Khuzaʿi

Ibn Hajar said: These are his teachers from whom he transmitted knowledge of jurisprudence, reports, and accounts.

He heard from them in Makkah, Madinah, Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt. He narrated many reports, but he did not increase the number of teachers as the people of reports do, because of his turning to jurisprudence, until he attained what he attained. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 53.)

The Students of al Shafiʿi

No imam had companions, transmitters, and students like al Shafiʿi, in type and in number.

Dawud ibn ʿAli al Zahiri said: Among his virtues is what he attained of companions, such as Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad in his asceticism, knowledge, and his standing upon the Sunnah, and such as Sulayman ibn Dawud al Hashimi, and al Humaydi, and al Karabisi, and Abu Thawr, and al Zaʿfarani, and al Buwayti, and Abu al Walid ibn Abi al Jarud, and Harmlah, and al Rabiʿ, and al Harith ibn Surayj, and the one who upheld his madhhab, Abu Ibrahim al Muzani. No scholar or jurist had what he attained of that. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 61.)

It is clear that Dawud al Zahiri did not claim full coverage. He only gave examples. It is difficult to cover everyone who took from him or transmitted from him. Some of his companions were mentioned earlier during the discussion of his second journey to Baghdad and his journey to Egypt.

Here, more of those named among his companions will be mentioned. Ibn Hajar gathered them in Tawali al Taʾsis, whether they were his teachers who also transmitted from him, or his peers.

Here are their names, arranged by the alphabet, including fathers and grandfathers, as Ibn Hajar arranged them. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 79.) (Some of these have already been discussed. I would have translated the rest in full detail, but to avoid excessive length, whoever desires that should return to Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah al Kubra, or other biographical works among the scholars of reports.)

Ahmad ibn al Hajjaj al Marwazi, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Ahmad ibn Khalid al Khallal al Baghdadi, one of the teachers of al Tirmidhi and al Nasaʾi.
Ahmad ibn Saʿid ibn Bashir al Hamadhani, then al Misri, one of the teachers of Abu Dawud.
Ahmad ibn Sinan al Qattan, a memoriser, one of the teachers of al Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud.
Ahmad ibn Salih al Misri, Abu Jaʿfar al Tabari, one of the teachers of al Bukhari and Abu Dawud.
Ahmad ibn al Sabah ibn Abi Sarij al Razi, one of the teachers of al Bukhari and Abu Dawud.
Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Makki, the reciter known as Qunbul.
Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Wahb, Abu ʿAbd Allah, the nephew of Ibn Wahb, al Misri, one of the teachers of Muslim and Ibn Khuzaymah.
Ahmad ibn ʿAmr ibn al Sarh, Abu al Tahir al Misri, one of the teachers of Muslim and Abu Dawud.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal al Shaybani al Baghdadi, Abu ʿAbd Allah, one of the 4 imams.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saʿid ibn Jablah al Sayrafi al Baghdadi.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim ibn Abi Bazzah al Bazzi, the well known reciter.
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Walid al Azraqi al Makki, one of the teachers of al Bukhari, and al Shafiʿi instructed him.
Ahmad ibn Abi Musa, Egyptian.
Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz, Abu ʿAbd al Rahman, al Shafiʿi.
Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn al Wazir al Misri, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi.
Ibrahim ibn Abi Hayyah al Makki.
Ibrahim ibn Khalid al Kalbi, Abu Thawr, one of the jurists, one of the teachers of Muslim and Abu Dawud, and one of the carriers of the earlier jurisprudence from al Shafiʿi.
Ibrahim ibn Saraqah.
Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd Allah al Hajabi al Makki.
Ibrahim ibn ʿIsa ibn Abi Ayyub.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ayyub al Basri.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al Kufi.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAli al Shafiʿi, one of the teachers of Ibn Majah.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Hurm al Misri.
Ibrahim ibn al Mundhir al Khuzami, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Makhlad al Marwazi, one of the imams, known as Ibn Rahawayh.
Ishaq ibn Bahlul al Tanukhi, one of the memorisers.
Ishaq ibn Ṣaghir al ʿAttar.
Ishaq ibn ʿIsa ibn al Ṭabbaʿ, among those from whom Muslim and others narrated.
Asad ibn Saʿid ibn Kathir ibn ʿUfayr al Misri.
Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim ibn Ṭababā al ʿAlawi al Misri.
Ismaʿil ibn Yahya, Abu Ibrahim al Muzani, the well known imam, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence from him.
Ismaʿil al Himyari, Abu Muhammad.
Ismaʿil al Ṭayyan al Razi, met al Shafiʿi in Makkah, and his narration from him is in the book of Ibn Abi Hatim.
Ashhab ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Misri, companion of Malik.
Ayyub ibn Suwayd al Ramli, among those whose reports Abu Dawud and others transmitted.
Bahr ibn Nasr ibn Sabiq al Khawlani al Misri, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi.
Bishr ibn Ghiyath al Mirrisi.
al Harith ibn Surayj al Naqqal, one of the carriers of the earlier jurisprudence from him, and one of the teachers of al Hasan ibn Sufyan.
al Harith ibn Sulayman al Ramli, one of the teachers of Abu Zurʿah al Razi.
Hamid ibn Yahya al Balkhi, one of the teachers of Abu Dawud.
Harmlah ibn Yahya al Tujibi al Misri, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence from him, and one of the teachers of Muslim.
al Hasan ibn Idris ibn Yahya al Khawlani al Misri.
al Hasan ibn Abi al Rabiʿ, his name is Yahya ibn al Jaʿd al Jurjani, one of the teachers of Ibn Majah.
al Hasan ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Jarwi al Misri, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
al Hasan ibn ʿUthman al Ziyadi, Abu Hassan, the well known accounts scholar.
al Hasan ibn ʿAli al Khallal al Halawani, one of the memorisers, among the teachers of al Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah.
al Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al Ṣabah al Zaʿfarani, Abu ʿAli al Baghdadi, one of the carriers of the earlier jurisprudence from him, and one of the teachers of al Bukhari, Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, al Nasaʾi, and Ibn Majah.
al Husayn ibn ʿAbd al Salam al Misri, the well known poet known as al Jamal.
al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Qallas. Shaykh Abu Ishaq said: he was among the elite of the people of reports and the preservers of the madhhab of al Shafiʿi.
al Husayn ibn ʿAli al Karabisi, one of the imams in jurisprudence and reports, and one of the carriers of the earlier jurisprudence from al Shafiʿi, and al Bukhari took from him.
Khalid ibn Nizar al Ayyli, then al Misri, a well known scholar of reports, among those whose reports Abu Dawud and al Nasaʾi transmitted.
Dawud ibn Abi Salih al Madani, one of the teachers of Abu Dawud.
al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman ibn Dawud al Jizi, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence, one of the teachers of Abu Dawud and al Nasaʾi.
al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al Jabbar al Muradi, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence from him, and the most well known among them in transmission, and one of the teachers of Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, al Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah, and other imams.
al Zubayr ibn Sulayman al Qurashi, Makkan.
Zakariyya ibn Yahya al Misri, known as al Waqqar, one of the Maliki jurists, and he was graded weak.
Zayd ibn Bishr al Hadrami, Egyptian.
Sarj al Ghul al Misri, a jurist, and he was given that nickname.
Saʿid ibn Asad ibn Musa ibn Ibrahim ibn al Walid ibn ʿAbd al Malik ibn Marwan al Shami, then al Misri. His father was known as Asad al Sunnah. He and his father have writings.
Saʿid ibn al Jahm ibn Nafiʿ, Abu ʿUthman. Ibn Yunus mentioned that he was one of those al Shafiʿi assigned.
Saʿid ibn ʿIsa ibn Tulayd al Ruʿayni al Misri, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Saʿid ibn Kathir ibn ʿUfayr al Misri, the well known scholar of reports, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Sufyan ibn Saʿid al Hubbab. Ibn al Ṭaḥḥan mentioned that he narrated from al Shafiʿi, then stayed close to al Muzani. Al Ṭaḥawi narrated from him.
Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah al Hilali, Abu Muhammad, originally Kufan then Makkan, one of the imams, and among the well known teachers of al Shafiʿi.
Sufyan ibn Muhammad al Ḍarari, one of the weak ones.
Salamah ibn Shabib al Naysaburi, one of the teachers of Muslim.
Sulayman ibn Dawud ibn Dawud ibn ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al ʿAbbas al Hashimi, Abu Ayyub al Baghdadi, one of the jurist imams, and one of the teachers of al Bukhari outside the Sahih, and the 4 transmitted from him through an intermediary.
Sulayman ibn Dawud al Shadhkuni, one of the memorisers, and he was graded weak.
Sulayman ibn Dawud al ʿAttar.
Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Abi Thabit.
Sahl ibn Muhammad, Abu Hatim al Sijistani, one of the imams in Arabic, and one of the teachers of Abu Dawud and al Nasaʾi.
Suwayd ibn Saʿid al Hadathani, the well known scholar of reports, one of the teachers of Muslim.
Salih ibn Abi Salih, ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih al Misri, whose father was known as the scribe of al Layth.
ʿAbbas ibn al Faraj al Riyashi.
ʿAbd Allah ibn al Zubayr ibn ʿIsa ibn ʿUbayd Allah al Humaydi al Makki, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih ibn Muhammad al Juhani, Abu Salih, the scribe of al Layth in Egypt, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam ibn Aʿyan al Misri, the Maliki jurist.
ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman al Shafiʿi, the cousin of al Shafiʿi.
ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAqil al Baghdadi.
ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Balawi, one of the weak ones.
ʿAbd al Hamid ibn al Walid ibn al Mughirah al Basri.
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Ibrahim al Zuhri.
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Ibrahim al Dimashqi, known as Duhaym, one of the memorisers, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Suwar al ʿAnbari al Basri.
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam ibn Aʿyan al Misri.
ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi al Basri, one of the greatest imams of reports and great memorisers.
ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Sulaym ibn Maymun al Kinani.
ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn ʿImran ibn Miqlas al Khuzaʿi, Abu ʿAli al Misri, one of the carriers of jurisprudence from him.
ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Yahya al Makki, the author of Kitab al Ḥaydah. Dawud ibn ʿAli mentioned that he stayed with al Shafiʿi and left with him to Yemen.
ʿAbd al Ghani ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al ʿAssal.
ʿAbd al Ghani ibn Abi ʿAqil al ʿAssal, one of the teachers of Abu Dawud.
ʿAbd al Karim ibn Muhammad al Jurjani, the judge of Makkah.
ʿAbd al Malik ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Majishun, the well known Maliki jurist.
ʿAbd al Malik ibn Qurayb al Asmaʿi, the well known imam in language.
ʿAbd al Malik ibn Hisham al Misri, the well known grammarian, the author of the refined Prophetic biography.
ʿAbdus al ʿAttar.
ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Khaliq al Mahri al Misri.
ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Harun.
ʿAli ibn Zayd al Baghdadi.
ʿAli ibn Sulayman al Akhmimi.
ʿAli ibn Sahl ibn al Mughirah al Ramli.
ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar ibn al Madini, the well known imam, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn al Mughirah al Misri, known as ʿAllan.
ʿAli ibn Muslim al Thaqafi.
ʿAli ibn Maʿbad ibn Shaddad al Ruqi, and al Tirmidhi narrated from him.
ʿAli al Adam, among the companions of al Shafiʿi, and he died in Aswan during the lifetime of al Buwayti, as Abu al Hasan al Razi mentioned.
ʿAmr ibn Khalid al Harrani, then al Misri, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
ʿAmr ibn Abi Salamah al Tinnisi, the well known scholar of reports.
ʿAmr ibn Suwad al Misri, one of the teachers of Muslim.
al Faḍl ibn Dukayn, Abu Nuʿaym, the shaykh of al Bukhari.
al Faḍl ibn al Rabiʿ, the well known minister.
al Qasim ibn Salam, Abu ʿUbayd, the well known imam.
Qutaybah ibn Saʿid al Balkhi, one of the teachers of the 5 imams, well known.
Qahzam ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Qahzam al Aswani, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence from him. Ibn Yunus said in his history: People travelled to him for jurisprudence after al Muzani. He was the last of those who stayed with al Shafiʿi to die.
Kathir, Abu Nahshal.
al Layth ibn ʿAsim al Qatbani al Misri, Abu Zurʿarah, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi.
Mahfuz ibn Abi Tawbah.
Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Misri.
Muhammad ibn Bashir al Shaybi al Makki.
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al Muqaddami, the well known scholar of reports, one of the teachers of al Bukhari and Muslim.
Muhammad ibn Khalaf al ʿAsqalani, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi and Ibn Majah.
Muhammad ibn Saʿid ibn Ghalib al ʿAttar, one of the teachers of Ibn Majah.
Muhammad ibn Saʿid ibn Abi Maryam al Misri.
Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas al Makki.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam ibn Aʿyan al Misri, one of the imams in jurisprudence. He studied jurisprudence with al Shafiʿi, then returned to the madhhab of Malik.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al ʿAbbas ibn ʿUthman al Shafiʿi. His father has already been mentioned. Muhammad married Zaynab, the daughter of Imam al Shafiʿi.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al Rahim ibn Shurus al Ṣanʿani.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Wasiti, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Muhammad ibn Abi ʿAmr al ʿAbdi.
Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Makhrami, the judge of Halwan, one of the teachers of al Bukhari.
Muhammad ibn Qaṭan, a shaykh of Ahmad ibn Abi al Hawari.
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Idris, Abu ʿUthman, the son of Imam al Shafiʿi. He held the judiciary of Halab and the lands of al Jazirah.
Muhammad ibn Muhajir, the brother of Hanifah.
Muhammad ibn Musa, as though he is al Qattan.
Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Hassan al Tinnisi.
Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad al Wazir.
Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Abi ʿUmar al ʿAdani, one of the teachers of Muslim.
Muhammad ibn Abi Yaʿqub al Dinawari.
Masʿud ibn Sahl.
Muslim ibn Khalid al Zanjī, the well known Makkan jurist.
Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al Zubayr.
Musa ibn Abi al Jarud, Abu al Walid al Makki, one of the transmitters of the earlier jurisprudence, one of the teachers of al Tirmidhi.
Naṣr al Makki.
Numayr ibn Saʿid.
Harun ibn Saʿid al Ayli, one of the teachers of Muslim.
Harun ibn ʿAbd Allah al Zuhri, the judge.
Harun ibn Muhammad.
al Walid ibn Muslim, al Khattabi mentioned him in Maʿalim al Sunan in shortening the prayer at ʿArafah.
Wahb ibn Rizq.
Wahb ibn Rashid.
Yasin ibn ʿAbd al Ahad ibn Abi Zurʿarah al Misri, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi.
Yahya ibn Aktham, the judge, well known, one of the teachers of al Tirmidhi and Abu Hatim.
Yahya ibn Zakariyya al Umawi.
Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan al Basri, one of the imams.
Yahya ibn ʿAbd Allah al Khathʿami.
Yusuf ibn ʿUmar ibn Yazid ibn Yusuf al Misri.
Yusuf ibn Yahya, Abu Yaʿqub al Buwayti, the well known imam, one of the transmitters of the later jurisprudence, and the greatest of them in rank.
Yusuf ibn Yazid al Qaraṭisi, one of the teachers of al Nasaʾi.
Yusuf ibn Yaʿqub, the judge of Makkah.
Yunus ibn ʿAbd al Aʿla al Ṣadafi, one of the carriers of the later jurisprudence, one of the teachers of Muslim and others.
Abu Shuʿayb al Misri.
Abu Marwan ibn Abi al Khaṣib al Nawfali, a Makkan shaykh.

Praise of the Scholars for al Shafiʿi

Al Shafiʿi lived in a time marked by alertness in every kind and type of knowledge, especially the knowledge of the Sharia, and people competed to gain the lead in it. History neglected to mention anyone who was not in the arena of the Sharia as a runner in front, or in second place, or in third place, and it focused on those who were in front.

Those in front are ranks and levels. The highest in rank and the greatest in virtue are the imams. The most enduring of the imams are the 4 imams, Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH), Malik (d. 179 AH), Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH). No one has the right to compare between them, except someone who reaches their level, or close to it.

Yet what should be said is that the one whose ijtihad is closest to what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ legislated, whose understanding of the Book of Allah and the Messenger ﷺ is deepest, whose derivation is most precise, whose tongue is most eloquent, whose expression is most clear, whose grasp of foundational matters and detailed matters is widest, and who was never overcome in debate, is the most excellent. Each of them has virtue, knowledge, piety, and scrupulousness that fills hearts with reverence and esteem, and the greatest ulama praised each of them.

Here is praise for Imam Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) and testimony for him. Much testimony from the ulama about him has already appeared earlier, and here is more of that in this section from those who held that he was the best of the people of his time.

Al Fadl ibn Dukayn said, “We have not seen, and we have not heard of, anyone more complete in intellect, more present in understanding, and more comprehensive in knowledge than Al Shafiʿi.” (Al Fadl is Ibn Dukayn, and the name of Dukayn is ʿAmr ibn Hammad ibn Zuhayr, Al Taymi, the client of the family of Talhah, Abu Nuʿaym, the Kufi, the seller of cloaks, the cross eyed. A memoriser and leading authority, from Al Aʿmash, Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, and others. From him Al Bukhari, Ahmad, Ishaq, Yahya ibn Maʿin, and others. Ahmad said, “Reliable, alert, and knowledgeable in hadith.” He died in 219 AH.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/59.)

Abu Thawr (d. 240 AH) said, “Whoever claims that he saw the like of Muhammad ibn Idris Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in his knowledge, eloquence, understanding, firmness, and mastery has lied. He had no peer in his life, and when he passed away, no replacement was found for him.” (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/566.)

His shaykh Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH), after a hadith about softening the heart was read and Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) fainted, and it was said, “Al Shafiʿi has died”, said, “If he has died, then the best of the people of his time has died.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/59.)

Harun ibn Saʿid Al Ayli (d. 253 AH), one of the shaykhs of Muslim in his Sahih, said, “I have not seen the like of Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

Abu Mansur Al Azhari said, “I devoted myself to the writings authored by the jurists of the regions, and I found Al Shafiʿi to be the most abundant of them in knowledge, the most eloquent of them in tongue, and the most expansive of them in mind.” (Al Azhari is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Al Azhar Al Harawi, Abu Mansur. His attribution is to his grandfather Al Azhar. He focused on fiqh and became known for it, then mastery of Arabic took over him, and he became one of its imams. He died in 370 AH.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/62.)

Abu ʿUbayd Al Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 224 AH) said, “I have not seen anyone more intelligent, more scrupulous, more eloquent, or more noble in judgement than Al Shafiʿi.” He also said, “I have not seen any man more complete than Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/61.) (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/565.)

Al Zaʿfarani (d. 260 AH) said, “I have not seen the like of Al Shafiʿi, nor better, nor more noble, nor more generous, nor more pious, nor more knowledgeable than him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/55.)

Bishr Al Mirisi (d. 218 AH) said, “I have not seen anyone more skilled than Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/63.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) said, “No one spoke in knowledge with fewer mistakes, and no one held more firmly to the Prophetic practice than Al Shafiʿi.” He also said, while mentioning Al Shafiʿi, “I have not seen anyone more eloquent than him, nor more understanding of the sciences than him.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/60.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/57. And earlier in this work, amazing words from Imam Ahmad about praising Al Shafiʿi have already appeared.)

Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (d. 238 AH), after he debated him and competed with him at the beginning, said, “Al Shafiʿi is the imam of the ulama, and no one speaks by opinion except that Al Shafiʿi makes fewer mistakes than him.” He also said, “Al Shafiʿi is an imam.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/61.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/57.)

Yahya ibn Saʿid Al Qattan (d. 198 AH) mentioned Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) and said, “I have not seen anyone more intelligent, nor more understanding of fiqh, than him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/55.)

Al Humaydi (d. 219 AH), when Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) was mentioned in his presence, would say, “Our shaykh narrated to us, the leader of the jurists, Al Shafiʿi.” And once he said, “The leader of the ulama of his time, Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/62.)

Ayyub ibn Suwayd Al Ramli (d. 182 AH), one of the shaykhs of Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), and he died 11 years before Al Shafiʿi, said, “I did not think I would live until I saw the like of Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/59–60.)

Al Junayd (d. 297 AH) said, “Al Shafiʿi was among those who sought, and who spoke with the tongue of truth in the religion.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Muhammad ibn Al Hasan, the companion of Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH), said, “If anyone can disagree with us and still have his disagreement stand against us, it is Al Shafiʿi.” It was said to him, “Why?” He said, “Because of his clarity, and his carefulness in asking, answering, and listening.” (Al Intiqaʾ, 59.)

From Al Husayn ibn ʿUthman Al Ziyadi: “I was in the entrance hall of Muhammad ibn Al Hasan (d. 189 AH). Muhammad came out riding, and he looked and saw that Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) had arrived. So he folded his leg and got down, and he said to his servant, ‘Go and apologise.’ Al Shafiʿi said to him, ‘We have a time other than this.’ He said, ‘No,’ and he took him by the hand, and they entered the house.”

Abu Hassan, meaning Al Husayn ibn ʿUthman, said, “He chose sitting with Al Shafiʿi over his position in the house, meaning the house of the caliphate. I have not seen Muhammad honour anyone the way he honoured Al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/71.)

Muʿammar ibn Shabib said, “I heard Al Maʾmun (d. 218 AH) say, ‘I tested Muhammad ibn Idris Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) in everything, and I found him complete.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/56.)

This is a little from much of the praise of some of the great ulama of his time for him, as he deserved. It has been seen that they preferred him over the imams of the ulama whom they knew in their time. Here is praise from some of the giants of the ulama who did not meet him, but whose time was close to him.

Ahmad ibn Sayyar said, “If it were not for Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), Islam would have disappeared.” (Ahmad ibn Sayyar ibn Ayyub Al Marwazi, Abu Al Hasan, the jurist, the imam of the people of hadith in his land in knowledge, adab, asceticism, and scrupulousness. He was compared to Ibn Al Mubarak. He died in 268 AH.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Ibrahim ibn Ishaq Al Harbi (d. 285 AH) used to say, “The teacher of the teacher of the two teachers said.” It would be said to him, “Who is he?” He would say, “Al Shafiʿi. Is he not the teacher of Ahmad ibn Hanbal?” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Abu Zurʿah (d. 264 AH) said, “I do not know anyone whose favour upon the people of Islam is greater than the favour of Al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Abu Hatim Al Razi (d. 277 AH) said, “Al Shafiʿi is my namesake, and his father is the namesake of my father, and if it were not for him, the people of hadith would have been in blindness.” (The name of Abu Hatim is Muhammad ibn Idris.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al Bushanji said, “We examined the news of people, and we did not find, after the earliest generation of this ummah, anyone more clearly established in rank, more clear in expression, or more eloquent in tongue than Al Shafiʿi, along with his closeness in lineage to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61. The one who said this is Muhammad ibn Saʿid Al ʿAbdi, Abu ʿAbd Allah Al Bushanji, the Shafiʿi, the shaykh of the people of knowledge in Naysabur. He died in 290 AH.)

Dawud ibn ʿAli Al Isfahani (d. 270 AH), the imam of the people of the outward meaning, said, “Virtues came together for Al Shafiʿi that did not come together for anyone else. The first of that is the nobility of his lineage and his rank, and that he is from the clan of the Prophet ﷺ. Among them is soundness of religion and safety of belief from desires and innovations. Among them is generosity of soul.

Among them is his knowledge of sound hadith and weak hadith, and of abrogating hadith and abrogated hadith. Among them is his memorisation of the Book of Allah, and the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and his knowledge of the conduct of the Prophet ﷺ and the conduct of his caliphs. Among them is his exposing the deception of his opponents, and his authoring of books.

Among them is what Allah gave him of companions, such as Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad, meaning Ibn Hanbal, in his asceticism, knowledge, and holding fast to the Prophetic practice, and such as Sulayman ibn Dawud Al Hashimi, Al Humaydi, Al Karabisi, Abu Thawr, Al Zaʿfarani, Al Buwayti, Abu Al Walid ibn Abi Al Jarud, Harmalah, Al Rabiʿ, Al Harith ibn Surayj, and the one who upheld his madhhab, Abu Ibrahim Al Muzani. No scholar or jurist was granted the like of what he was granted in that.”

Dawud ibn ʿAli Al Isfahani (d. 270 AH) also said, regarding an issue he mentioned, “This is the view of our man, Al Shafiʿi, who rose above them by his subtle insight, overcame them with his proofs, separated from them by his courage, and prevailed over them by his firmness, pious in his religion, pure in his lineage, excellent in himself, holding fast to the Book of his Lord, taking the Messenger ﷺ as his example, erasing the traces of the people of innovation, removing their embers, wiping out their way, so they became as Allah, Exalted is He, said:”

فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًا تَذْرُوهُ الرِّيَاحُ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُقْتَدِرًا

“And it became dry debris, scattered by the winds, and Allah has power over everything.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/61.)

Hilal ibn Al ʿAlaʾ Al Raqqi (d. 280 AH) said, “Allah, Exalted is He, favoured this ummah with 4 in their times: Al Shafiʿi with his fiqh, with the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal with the trial, and if not for that the people would have disbelieved; and with Yahya ibn Maʿin to remove lies from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and with Abu ʿUbayd Al Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 224 AH) to explain the unfamiliar wording in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. If not for that, people would have plunged into error.” (Nuzhat al Albaʾ, 139.)

The imam of language, the great man of letters, and the poet Ibn Durayd, whose death was in 321 AH, had a long poem in praise of Al Shafiʿi, and a part of it is mentioned here. (Muhammad ibn Al Hasan ibn Durayd Al Azdi, from the imams of language and adab. His description is that he was the most poetic of the ulama and the most knowledgeable of the poets. He died in 321 AH.) (Most of the poem is in Al Intiqaʾ, 115.) He said:

“Do the traces of Ibn Idris after him not show signs that shine in difficult problems?
Landmarks that time destroys, yet they remain lasting, and banners that fall, yet they remain high.
Paths in which guidance moves, and routes in which right direction is a clear road.
For the judgement of Ibn Idris, the cousin of Muhammad, is a light that shines when hardship becomes dark.
When hard and confusing matters resemble each other, light rises from him that splits their darkness.
Allah refused except to raise him and lift him, and for what the Lord of the Throne raises, there is no one who can put it down.
He sought guidance, and the hand of piety rescued him from misguidance, for misguidance casts a person down.
He held close to the traces of the Prophet ﷺ, so his judgement among people followed the judgement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
In his rulings and his judging, he relied on what revelation judged, and the truth is clear.
So whoever has the knowledge of Al Shafiʿi before him, his pasture in the field of knowledge is wide.”

“Peace upon a grave that contained his being, and the dark rain clouds poured upon it.”

“If events struck us by taking his person, they are in what they judged, severe calamities.
Yet his rulings among us are bright full moons, and his traces among us are rising stars.”

Al Shafiʿi’s Praise of Some Ulama

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) used words of esteem and honour for some of the great ulama whom he knew, or heard from, or heard about. It has already appeared many times that he did not honour anyone in his inner self from his shaykhs and the ulama of his time the way he honoured his shaykh Malik (d. 179 AH), and his repeated words about him were, “When the ulama are mentioned, Malik is the star.”

Close to that was his esteem for his great shaykh Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH), whose lessons Al Shafiʿi attended from childhood, when he had not passed 11 years of age, and he took from him and narrated from him much of fiqh and the Prophetic practice and knowledge.

He said about him, “I have not seen anyone among people who had the tools of knowledge like what Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah had. I have not seen anyone more restrained from giving fatwa than him. And I have not seen anyone better in explaining hadith than him.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 206.)

Among those he honoured greatly was his first shaykh in Makkah in fiqh, Muslim ibn Khalid Al Zanji (d. 180 AH), as he said about him, “Muslim ibn Khalid Al Zanji was the jurist of his time. He used to say, ‘I sat with Malik ibn Anas in the lifetime of a group of the Tabiʿin.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/50.)

He praised the well known Tabiʿi, the mufti of Makkah and its hadith narrator, ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah, though he did not meet him, saying, “There is no one among the Tabiʿin who followed hadith more than ʿAtaʾ.” (ʿAtaʾ ibn Aslam ibn Safwan, from the greatest jurists of the Tabiʿin and their ulama. He grew up in Makkah and was its mufti. He died in 114 AH.) (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 206.)

He praised many ulama among his companions in Iraq and Egypt, and that has already appeared in its place. Among his Iraqi companions, the one greatest in his heart was Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) for many qualities, gathered by Al Shafiʿi in his words, “I left Baghdad and I did not leave behind in it anyone more understanding in fiqh, nor more scrupulous, nor more ascetic, nor more knowledgeable than Ahmad.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 1/27.)

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) praised hadith narrators and jurists from the people of Iraq, from those who agreed and those who disagreed, whom he knew, or heard about, or read their books, and he described them as they were. He said about Al Shaʿbi (d. 103 AH), “Al Shaʿbi, in abundance of narration, is like ʿUrwah ibn Al Zubayr.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 208.)

He saw for Shuʿbah ibn Al Hajjaj the greatest merit in spreading hadith in Iraq, and keeping away those who were not fit from narrating, so he said, “If not for Shuʿbah, hadith would not have been known in Iraq. He would go to a man and say, ‘Do not narrate, or I will seek the ruler against you.’” (Shuʿbah ibn Al Hajjaj ibn Al Ward Al ʿAtaki Al Azdi, their client, from the imams of hadith narrators in memorisation and understanding. Ahmad said, ‘He is an ummah by himself in this field.’ He was knowledgeable in adab and poetry. He died in 160 AH.) (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 209.)

He would mention Shuʿbah’s scrupulousness in giving fatwa and say, “When a man asked Shuʿbah about an issue, he would ask him about his name, his father’s name, his work, and where he lived, then he would give him a fatwa.

Then he would return to his companions and discuss the issue, and they would say, ‘It is such and such,’ unlike what he had given as a fatwa.

He would say, ‘From where did you say this?’ They would say, ‘Were we not narrated such and such?’

He would say, ‘Yes, we were narrated.’ Then he would take the hand of one of his companions and go to the man and say, ‘It is not as I gave you the fatwa. It is such and such.’

Then after that, it would not prevent him that the man asks again and he gives him that corrected fatwa.”

Al Shafiʿi’s acknowledgement of Shuʿbah’s merit upon Iraq in hadith, and his praise for his scrupulousness, did not prevent him from criticising him when he saw what required it. Shuʿbah was an imam in hadith for him, yet weak in analogy, and Al Shafiʿi used to give an example with his weakness in analogy.

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said, “When Al Shafiʿi made an analogy and someone made an analogy and erred, he would say, ‘This is Shuʿbah’s analogy.’” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 209.)

As for his view of the jurists of Iraq who were called the jurists of opinion, although he debated them and his books are filled with replies to them and to what they derived, he still honoured them, the honour of a fair and knowledgeable man who sees in his opponent a mujtahid, so if he is correct, he has 2 rewards, and if he errs, he has 1 reward.

His correctness raises him, and his error does not bring him down, because all ulama are exposed to being correct and being mistaken. He praised the jurists of Iraq in general and said, “People are dependants on the people of Iraq in fiqh.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 210.)

He singled out their imam Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) for honour and esteem and said, “Our companions only want to attack Abu Hanifah in much of what he said, while their knowledge of him is enough for them.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 211. It is as if he meant that knowing him should lead them to respect him and esteem him.) He also said, “Whoever wants to go deep in fiqh is a dependant on Abu Hanifah.” (Al Jawahir al Mudiʾah, 2/456.)

He said, “It was said to Malik (d. 179 AH), ‘Did you see Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH)?’ He said, ‘Yes. I saw a man who, if he spoke to you about this pillar, that he could make it gold, he would establish his proof for it.’” (Al Jawahir al Mudiʾah, 2/508.)

It is not thought that Al Shafiʿi met Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), because Abu Yusuf died in 182 AH, and Al Shafiʿi’s arrival in Iraq during his trial was in 184 AH, unless they met with Malik in Madinah or in Makkah in the days of Hajj.

As for Muhammad ibn Al Hasan (d. 189 AH), it has already appeared that Al Shafiʿi wrote down his books and heard them from him. It has also already appeared that he said about him, “I have not seen any fat man intelligent, except one man,” and he meant Muhammad ibn Al Hasan.

He also said about him, “I have not seen anyone asked about an issue that required thought, except that dislike appeared on his face, except Muhammad ibn Al Hasan.” (Al Intiqaʾ, 69.)

He praised a man from Al Ray as the most eager of people for the Book of Allah. Ismaʿil Al Tiyan Al Razi said, “I came to Makkah and met Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH). He said to me, ‘Do you know Musa Al Razi? No one came to us from the east more eager for the Book of Allah than him.’

I said to him, ‘Describe him to me.’ He said, ‘An older man who came to us from Al Ray,’ and he described him to me.

I recognised from the description that he was Abu ʿImran Al Sufi. I said, ‘I know him. He is Abu ʿImran Al Sufi.’ He said, ‘Yes, yes.’” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 214.)

There was a group of ulama whom he honoured greatly, and he was especially saddened that he did not meet them. Yunus ibn ʿAbd Al Aʿla said, “I heard Al Shafiʿi say, ‘No one’s absence was harder on me than the absence of Al Layth ibn Saʿd, and Ibn Abi Dhiʾb, meaning ʿAbd Al Rahman ibn Abi Dhiʾb.’” (Al Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd Al Rahman Al Fahmi, their client, the alim of Egypt, its jurist, and its leader, from ʿAtaʾ, Nafiʿ, Qatadah, and others. He died in 175 AH.) (Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Al Rahman ibn Al Mughirah ibn Al Harith Al Qurashi Al ʿAmiri, the reliable imam, the devoted worshipper, the shaykh of his time. He had strength in knowledge and firmness in speaking the truth. He died in 159 AH.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/51.)

What amazed Al Shafiʿi about ʿAbd Al Rahman ibn Abi Dhiʾb was his open speaking of the truth with strength that did not fear the sword, in front of those whose power the caliphs feared, and his turning away from those who tried to please them or soften for them. Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Al Rahman Al Dinawari narrated: “ʿAbd Al Hakam narrated to us: Al Shafiʿi narrated to us: My uncle Muhammad ibn ʿAli narrated to me: ‘I was present in the gathering of the Commander of the Believers Abu Jaʿfar Al Mansur, and with him was Ibn Abi Dhiʾb and Al Hasan ibn Zayd, the governor of Madinah. The Ghifaris came and complained about something regarding Al Hasan.

He said, “O Commander of the Believers, ask Ibn Abi Dhiʾb about them.” So he asked him, and he said, “I testify that they are people who restrain themselves regarding the honour of the Muslims, and they do much good and do not harm them.” Abu Jaʿfar said, “Did you hear?” They said, “Ask him about Al Hasan.”

He said, “What do you say about him?” He said, “I testify that he rules without truth and follows his desire.” Muhammad said, “I gathered up my clothes while the executioner was standing at the head of Abu Jaʿfar, fearing that he would order him to be killed, and his blood would reach my clothes.” Abu Jaʿfar said, “You have heard, Hasan, what he said.” Al Hasan said, “Ask him about yourself.”

Abu Jaʿfar said to Ibn Abi Dhiʾb, “Will the Commander of the Believers excuse me?” He said, “By Allah, you will tell me.”

He softened and weakened, and he said, “I testify that you took wealth from other than its right, and you placed it with other than its people.”

Abu Jaʿfar rose from his place and put his hand on the back of his neck. Muhammad said, “I gathered up my clothes, fearing he would order him to be killed and his blood would reach my clothes.”

Then Abu Jaʿfar said, “By Allah, if it were not for us, I would take the sons of Persia, Rome, the Turks, and the Daylam from you in this place.”

He said, “Abu Bakr and ʿUmar ruled, and they took by the truth, and they distributed equally, and they took the backs of Persia and Rome, and humbled their noses.”

So Abu Jaʿfar released his neck and let him go, and he said, “By Allah, if I did not know you were truthful, I would have killed you.” Ibn Abi Dhiʾb said to Abu Jaʿfar, “I am, by Allah, more sincere to you than Al Mahdi,” meaning his son.’” (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 46.)

Harmalah narrated from Muhammad ibn Idris Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH): “Muhammad ibn ʿAjlan used to command good and forbid evil. A governor of Madinah gave a sermon one day and made it long. When he came down and prayed, Ibn ʿAjlan called out to him, ‘Fear Allah. You lengthen your statement and your speech on the minbar of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’

He ordered him to be detained. Ibn Abi Dhiʾb was informed, so he entered upon the governor and said, ‘You detained Ibn ʿAjlan?’ He said, ‘Is it not enough that he commands us privately, and we follow what he commands, until he calls out at us over the heads of people, so we are made to look weak?’

Ibn Abi Dhiʾb said, ‘Ibn ʿAjlan is foolish, truly foolish.

He sees you eating what is unlawful and wearing what is unlawful, and he leaves correcting you, and he says, “Do not lengthen your statement and your speech on the minbar of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ”!’ The governor said, ‘Bring out Ibn ʿAjlan. There is no case against him.’” (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 48.)

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), in his praise and testimony, did not limit himself to the ulama of fiqh and hadith.

He would praise others when they were deserving. He praised Al Asmaʿi for truthfulness and said, “I did not see in that camp anyone more truthful than Al Asmaʿi.” He praised him for his wording and said, “No one expressed the Arabs better than Al Asmaʿi’s expression.” (Nuzhat al Albaʾ, 123.) (Nuzhat al Albaʾ, 124.)

He testified for Al Kisāʾi, the imam of the Kufans, that he was highly skilled in grammar when he said, “Whoever wants to go deep in grammar is a dependant on Al Kisāʾi.” (Al Kisāʾi is ʿAli ibn Hamzah ibn ʿAbd Allah Al Asadi, by clientship, the Kufi, Abu Al Hasan, an imam in language, grammar, and recitation, and the tutor of Al Rashid. He died in 189 AH.)

Those Who Used to Supplicate for Al Shafiʿi

Fair ulama and jurists saw in Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) what filled their hearts with honour for him and admiration for him, because Allah opened for his insight understanding of the Book of Allah and fiqh of the Prophetic practice, along with holding to their way in speech and action, and because he travelled through the lands of Allah to spread the religion of Allah with sincerity that no one disputed, whether he agreed or disagreed with him. Many ulama felt that Al Shafiʿi had a favour over them that could not be repaid except by supplicating for him, in his life and after his death, secretly and openly, and leaving his reward to Allah.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) acknowledged Al Shafiʿi’s favour upon him and said, “All that you see, all of it or most of it, is from Al Shafiʿi, and I have not spent a night for 30 years except that I supplicate for Al Shafiʿi and seek forgiveness for him.” He also said, “There are 6 I supplicate for at dawn, one of them is Al Shafiʿi.” He said, “I do not know anyone who had a greater favour upon Islam in the time of Al Shafiʿi than Al Shafiʿi, and I supplicate for him after my prayers, and I say, ‘O Allah, forgive me, my parents, and Muhammad ibn Idris Al Shafiʿi.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/57.) (Wafayat al Aʿyan, 1/565.) (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.)

Yahya ibn Saʿid Al Qattan (d. 198 AH), the imam of the hadith narrators in his time, said, “I supplicate for Al Shafiʿi in my prayer for 4 years.” He also said, “I supplicate for Al Shafiʿi and I single him out.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/59.)

ʿAbd Al Rahman ibn Mahdi (d. 198 AH), the one to whom Al Shafiʿi wrote Al Risalah, said, “I do not pray any prayer except that I supplicate for Al Shafiʿi in it.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/313.)

Al Shafiʿi as the Renewer of the Second Century

From Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said, “Allah sends for this ummah at the head of every 100 years someone who renews its religion for it.” Imam Ahmad mentioned it and then said, “I looked at the year 100 and there was a man from the family of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Al ʿAziz (d. 101 AH).

And I looked at the head of the second 100, and there was a man from the family of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Muhammad ibn Idris.” Al Subki said, “This is established from Imam Ahmad. May Allah water his time.” (Tabaqat Al Shafiʿiyyah, 1/200.)

Shaykh Abu Al Walid Hassan ibn Muhammad Al Faqih said, “We were in the gathering of the judge Abu Al ʿAbbas ibn Surayj in 303 AH. A shaykh from the people of knowledge stood to him and said, ‘Rejoice, O judge.

Allah sends at the head of every 100 years someone who renews for it the matter of its religion. Allah sent at the head of the first 100 ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Al ʿAziz, and he died in 103 AH. And He sent at the head of the 200 Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Idris Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), and he died in 204 AH. And He sent you at the head of the 300.’ Then he began to say:

‘Two have passed, and blessing was in them,
ʿUmar the caliph, then the possessor of nobility,
Al Shafiʿi, the quick witted Muhammad,
The inheritance of prophethood, and the cousin of Muhammad.
Rejoice, O Abu Al ʿAbbas, for you are third after them.
May the soil of Ahmad be watered.’

He said, “The judge cried out and wept, and he said, ‘This man has announced my own death to me.’

He said, ‘So the judge Abu Al ʿAbbas died in that year.’” Al Khatib mentioned in his history that Ibn Surayj died in 306 AH. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/314.) (Hassan ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al Qurashi Al Umawi, Abu Al Walid Al Naysaburi, was the imam of the people of hadith in Khurasan, and one of the imams of the universe. He was a student of Abu Al ʿAbbas ibn Surayj. He died in 349 AH. Abu Al ʿAbbas is Ahmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Surayj, the judge, Abu Al ʿAbbas Al Baghdadi, known as “the pale hawk”, and he was the master of his level by agreement of the jurists.)

Ibn Al Subki said in Al Tabaqat: “As for the 400, it was said that Shaykh Al Isfarayini was sent in it, and it was said rather Al Ustadh Sahl ibn Abi Sahl Al Saʿluki, and both are from the imams of the Shafiʿis, and from the great firmly grounded ones.

He also said, ‘The fifth is Al Ghazali, and the sixth is Imam Fakhr Al Din Al Razi, and the seventh is Shaykh Taqi Al Din ibn Daqiq Al ʿId, and all of these are from the imams of the Shafiʿis.’”

The Intellect of Al Shafiʿi

A person does not need people to testify that he has intellect in order to truly be intelligent.

Rather, according to his work, his benefit, and his impact, he is intelligent, and according to what his mind opens up of new thought, or new discovery of what no one preceded him in, or understanding of something that generations deviated from the truth in, his intellect and genius are known.

When a person lives in an age in which intellects collided, and he contested them, defended against them with speech, proof, and reasoning, and confronted them in what they excelled in, while he had no support from the power of authority and no abundance of wealth, then in that state he is the most intelligent of the intelligent.

Imam Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), in his time, was like that. Only a few, less than a few, shared him in his place at the top peak of the intellect of an ummah.

Yet many from the elite of the intelligent testified to the abundance of his intellect, with no gain they sought from him and no harm they feared that they were trying to ward off from him.

Many of them had no tie to Al Shafiʿi by madhhab or kinship, and some of them even turned away from the Prophetic practice to innovation, while knowing that Al Shafiʿi was called “the defender of the Prophetic practice” because he had the greatest ability to defend it.

Bishr ibn Ghiyath Al Mirisi (d. 218 AH), the Muʿtazili jurist and a student of Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), said, “With Al Shafiʿi is half of the intellect of the people of the universe.” He also said, “I have not seen anyone more intelligent than Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/63.)

Yahya ibn Aktham said, “I have not seen anyone more intelligent than Al Shafiʿi.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/61.)

Muhammad ibn Ishaq Al Saghani asked about Al Shafiʿi, and it was said to him, “We used to be with Muhammad ibn Al Hasan in debate often. Al Shafiʿi had the intellect, understanding, and mind of Quraysh, pure intellect and understanding, quick in arriving at what is correct.

If he had gone deeper into hadith, the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ would have been independent through him from other ulama.” (Muhammad ibn Ishaq Al Saghani, Abu Bakr, the memoriser, resident of Baghdad. From Shujaʿ ibn Al Walid, Yazid ibn Harun, ʿAffan, and their level. Al Dar Qutni said, “Reliable and above reliable.” He died in 270 AH.)

Yunus ibn ʿAbd Al Aʿla said, “I have not seen anyone more intelligent than Al Shafiʿi. If the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ were gathered and placed into the intellect of Al Shafiʿi, his intellect would contain them.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/58.)

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman, his student, his servant, and the narrator of his books, said, “If Al Shafiʿi’s intellect were weighed against half of the intellect of the people of the earth, it would outweigh them. If he had been from the Children of Israel, they would have needed him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/58. He meant that despite the many prophets sent to the Children of Israel and the many books revealed to them, they would still need someone like Al Shafiʿi.)

Al Humaydi said, “Ibn ʿUyaynah, Muslim ibn Khalid, and Saʿid ibn”

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) was known for excellence, sharpness, and intellect from childhood, and the shaykhs of Makkah testified to that about him. Saʿid ibn Salim, ʿAbd Al Majid ibn ʿAbd Al ʿAziz, and the shaykhs of the people of Makkah used to describe Al Shafiʿi and knew him from childhood, and he was foremost with them in sharpness, intellect, and self restraint. No youthful wildness was known from him. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 5/54.)

Al Shafiʿi’s Piety, Scrupulousness, and Worship

Al Shafiʿi was not granted honour, acceptance, success, and complete leadership in knowledge, except through his religion and worship.

Knowledge in the religion is not that an alim calls people to it, and explains to them what Allah made lawful and what He made unlawful, and what lies between them of doubtful matters, while not applying it to himself. If he does not do so, then he is doubtful about what he knows, or close to that, and there is no knowledge for one who is doubtful.

Piety is that the believer leaves what he wants for what the law of Allah wants, and that he trains his impulses, desires, and leanings upon what pleases Allah.

Scrupulousness is that a person leaves doubtful matters so that he does not fall into what is unlawful. He may even leave what is lawful, fearing it may lead to something doubtful, and the doubtful may lead to falling into what is unlawful.

Al Shafiʿi, as he is an imam in ijtihad and jurisprudence, is also an imam in his belief, piety, scrupulousness, and worship.

Examples of His Belief, Piety, and Scrupulousness

Al Rabiʿ said: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd Al Hakam said to Al Shafiʿi, “If you want to settle in this land, meaning Egypt, then have provision for a year, and a standing with the ruler that strengthens you.” Al Shafiʿi said to him, “O Abu Muhammad, whoever is not strengthened by piety has no strength. I was born in Gaza, and raised in the Hijaz, and we do not have provision for a single night, yet we have never spent a night hungry.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/67.)

From his practical piety was that he would reject wrongdoing by leaving a place, and by advising about it, even if it came from those who had a connection to the ruler.

Al Harith ibn Surayj said, “I entered with Al Shafiʿi upon a servant of Al Rashid, and he was in a house spread with silk brocade. When Al Shafiʿi saw it, he turned back and said, ‘It is not permissible to spread this.’ So he moved him to a house spread with Armenian cloth. Al Shafiʿi said to him, ‘This is better than that. This is lawful, and that is unlawful, and this is more expensive in price.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/66.)

He applied his piety and scrupulousness even in matters that could harm him in his worldly affairs, and he chose them over immediate benefit. Al Harith ibn Surayj said, “Al Shafiʿi wanted to go out to Makkah, so he handed valuable Baghdadi garments to a fuller, and a fire occurred, and the fuller’s shop and the garments burned.

The fuller came with a group of people, intending to pressure Al Shafiʿi, because he delayed, so that he would pay him the value of the garments.

Al Shafiʿi said to him, ‘The people of knowledge differed about whether the fuller is liable, and I have not become clear that liability is required, so I will not make you liable for anything.’” (The fuller is the one who beats garments and whitens them.) (Some held, such as Al Hasan, Shurayh, Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad, and Al Shafiʿi in one view, that he is made liable. Others held, such as ʿAtaʾ, Tawus, Zufar, and Al Shafiʿi in what is stronger, that he is not made liable. So Al Shafiʿi treated the fuller according to what he was content with, and he did not treat him even according to a former view of his that many imams agreed with.) (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 102.)

Al Buwayti said, “I have seen people, and by Allah I have not seen anyone who resembles Al Shafiʿi or comes close to him in any kind of knowledge. By Allah, Al Shafiʿi, to me, was more scrupulous than everyone I have seen who is described as scrupulous.”

His Worship

Worship is drawing close to Allah by deeds and words that bring fear of Allah and magnifying the Creator. The ulama defined it as, “A deed that the servant carries out against the desire of his own self, seeking the pleasure of Allah.” (Dastur al Ulama, 2/298) It is of three types: purely bodily, like prayer and fasting, purely financial, like zakah, and a combination of both, like Hajj. (Dastur al Ulama, 2/298)

This is regarding obligatory acts. It is pointless to say that Al Shafiʿi carried them out in the best way, except zakah, because it is not thought that it became due upon him, since he was poor at the beginning, then when wealth came to him he was more generous than the sent wind.

As for voluntary deeds, then in the sacred hadith, “My servant does not draw close to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him. And My servant continues to draw close to Me with voluntary deeds until I love him.

When I love him, I become his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he strikes, and his foot by which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely give him refuge.”

The meaning is that Allah protects his limbs and guards them from evil, and causes him to use them in what pleases Him. The obligatory acts have been known.

As for voluntary deeds, they are many and varied, such as prayer, charity, recitation of the Qur’an, remembrance, sending prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ, and other than that.

Al Shafiʿi, even though he was occupied with the most firm of acts of worship and the most beloved of them to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, which is being occupied with knowledge and jurisprudence and spreading them among people, he did not excuse himself from voluntary worship that polishes the self, raises the spirit, and connects him to his Lord. He used to urge others to do that. He once said to Ahmad ibn Salih Al Misri, “Worship before you become a leader, because if you become a leader, you will not be able to worship.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/66.)

What has been reported from Al Shafiʿi regarding voluntary worship is of many kinds. From that is standing at night. Ibn Al Rabiʿ said, “Al Shafiʿi used to keep the night alive until he died.” (Shadharat al Dhahab, 2/10.) He did not mean that he stood the whole night, but rather that he kept some of it alive.

Husayn ibn ʿAli Al Karabisi said, “I stayed the night with Al Shafiʿi for 80 nights. He used to pray about a third of the night. I did not see him increase beyond 50 verses, meaning in a single rakʿah. He would not pass a verse of mercy except that he would ask Allah for himself and for the believing men and believing women, and he would not pass a verse of punishment except that he would seek refuge in Allah and ask Allah for deliverance for himself and for the believing men and believing women.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

Al Rabiʿ said: Al Shafiʿi used to divide the night into three parts. The first third he would write, the second third he would pray, and the third third he would sleep. (Sifat al Safwah, 2/144.)

He would not recite Qur’an at night except in prayer. Al Muzani said, “I did not see Al Shafiʿi recite Qur’an at night, except while he was in prayer.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/79.)

As for his recitation of the Qur’an, he was among the most devoted in reciting it. That is not surprising, since he memorised it while young, mastered its meanings, and was sharp in its interpretation, and he tasted its eloquence and its miracle.

So his greatest enjoyment in worship was reciting the Qur’an. He used to complete the Qur’an every month 30 times, and in Ramadan specifically 60 times. Al Rabiʿ said, “Al Shafiʿi used to complete in every month 30 completions, and in Ramadan 60 completions, besides what he recited in prayer.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/60.) (Sifat al Safwah, 2/145.)

From Al Shafiʿi’s voluntary deeds was his frequent sending prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ. He used to urge his companions and those present, saying, “I love that you increase sending prayers upon the Messenger of Allah.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

He used to hold that supplication to Allah is not complete except with sending prayers upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Al Muzani said that Al Shafiʿi said, in the older view, “Supplication is completed by sending prayers upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and its completion is also by it.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

Al Shafiʿi was among the people who magnified the Prophet ﷺ the most. He disliked that someone says, “The Messenger said,” rather he says, “The Messenger of Allah said,” out of magnifying him. (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

Al Muzani said, “I did not see among the ulama anyone who gives the Prophet ﷺ in his books what Al Shafiʿi gives him, due to how well he mentions the Messenger of Allah.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/66.)

The Generosity of Al Shafiʿi

The Arabs were known for generosity, and it was among their most famous points of pride, and they only sought by it fame and mention. They said:

“My people, wealth comes and goes,
and what remains of wealth is the reports and the mention.”

Men among them became famous as examples in generosity, such as Hatim Al Taʾi, Kaʿb ibn Maʿamah, Aws ibn Harithah, and Harim ibn Sinan.

Then Islam came, and people entered the religion of Allah in crowds. The best of them in the time of ignorance were the best of them in Islam. The brave person remained brave, and the generous person remained generous. The nature stayed, and the intention changed.

The intention used to be love of the self and pulling benefit to it of wealth, pride, and honour.

Then, by belief, it became seeking the Face of Allah. No matter how much people exaggerate the generosity of those famous for generosity before Islam, the generous believers surpass them, because they seek the Face of Allah in their giving, with no showing off and no desire for reputation. Examples of that are Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthman, ʿAli, ʿAbd Al Rahman ibn ʿAwf, and many others.

As for Imam Al Shafiʿi, the Qurashi, the Mutallibi, his generosity was without equal. It was the generosity of a believing Qurashi Arab. Even though he was poor for most of his life, and he had no provision for a single night as he said about himself, when wealth came to him he would spend it and give it in charity to the poor and needy.

If he had kept some wealth, his manliness and generosity would not have been criticised, but it was preferring others, loving good, nobility of self, and this is the testimony of some of those who lived with him and mixed with him, regarding his generosity.

Al Rabiʿ said, “We heard of generous people, and we had among us some, but we did not see the like of Al Shafiʿi.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/67.)

ʿAmr ibn Suwad Al Sarji said, “Al Shafiʿi was the most generous of people with the dinar, the dirham, and food.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/57.)

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd Al Hakam said, “Al Shafiʿi was the most generous of people with whatever he found.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.) (Al Wafi bil Wafayat, 2/174.)

Al Rabiʿ said, “When someone asked Al Shafiʿi for something, his face would become red out of shyness toward the questioner, and he would rush to give him. If he did not have it with him, he would send it to him when he returned.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/58; Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/67.)

Here are some events of his generosity.

Al Humaydi said, “Al Shafiʿi came once from Yemen with 20,000 dinars. He set up his tent outside Makkah, and he did not stand up until he had distributed all of it.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/145.)

Al Humaydi also said, “Al Shafiʿi came with 3,000 dinars. His cousins and others entered upon him, and he kept giving them until he stood up with nothing left.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

Al Zubayr ibn Sulayman Al Qurashi said: Al Shafiʿi said, “Harthamah went out and conveyed to me the greeting of the Commander of the Believers, and he said, ‘He has ordered 5,000 dinars for you.’ They were carried to him. He gave the barber 50 dinars for cutting his hair.

Then he took slips, and he tied bundles from those dinars, and he distributed them among the Qurashis who were present, and he made bundles for those he knew of the people of Makkah, until he returned to his house with less than 100 dinars.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

Abu Thawr said, “Al Shafiʿi wanted to go to Makkah and he had wealth. I said to him, ‘If only you bought a property for your child with it,’ and he rarely kept anything due to his generosity. He left, then he returned, and I asked him.

He said, ‘I did not find in Makkah a property that I could buy, due to my being known, but I built in Mina a place for our companions, so that when they make Hajj they stay in it.’ Abu Thawr said, ‘He saw me as if I was concerned about that,’ so he recited:

‘If I wake up with the provision of my day,
then leave worry from me, O Saʿid.
Do not bring the worries of tomorrow into my mind,
for tomorrow has a new provision.
Submit.
If Allah wants a matter,
I leave what I want for what He wants.’” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

Al Rabiʿ said, “We were one day with Al Shafiʿi and the strap of his sandal broke. A man fixed it for him. He said, ‘O Rabiʿ, do you have anything of our spending with you?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘How much?’ I said, ‘7 dinars.’ He said, ‘Give them to him.’” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/58.)

Al Rabiʿ also said, “Al Shafiʿi was riding on a donkey. He passed by the blacksmiths’ market and his whip fell from his hand.

A person jumped, wiped it with his palm, and handed it to him. He said to his servant, ‘Give him the dinars that are with you,’ and I do not know whether they were 7 or 9.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/58.)

Abu Saʿid said, “Al Shafiʿi was among the most generous of people and the most open handed. He would buy a skilled servant girl who cooks and makes sweets, and he would say to us, ‘Desire whatever you like.

I have bought a servant girl who can make whatever you want.’ Some of our companions would say, ‘Make today such and such,’ and we would instruct her.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/58.)

Al Rabiʿ said: Al Shafiʿi prepared a meal. When people had eaten, Al Buwayti said to me, “Sit and eat.” I said, “Who gave us permission to eat?” Al Shafiʿi heard and said, “Subhan Allah. You are free to use all my wealth.”

He saw that I had written the expense accounts, so he said, “Do not waste your papers for nothing.

I will not hold you to any accounting.” I said to him, “Sometimes the mother of Abu Al Hasan, meaning his child, asks for something and I buy it for her, and she did not permit me.” He said, “O long sleeper, you are free to use all my wealth.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

It was said to Al Rabiʿ, “What was Al Shafiʿi’s clothing like?” He said, “He was moderate in it,” then he continued, “There was not a day that passed upon him except that he gave charity, and he gave charity at night, especially in Ramadan, and he would check on the poor and the weak. His spending on his family was what is known from the ease of merchants and people of merit, and he was the most generous of people in company.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 6/68.)

Al Buwayti said, “Al Shafiʿi came to Egypt, and Zubaydah used to send him bundles of clothing and decorated garments, and he would distribute them among people.” (Tahdhib al Asmaʾ wa al Lughat, 1/57.)

Al Shafiʿi’s Wisdom and Life Experience

Al Shafiʿi was a man of great intellect, sharp intelligence, sensitive feeling, and clear sight of life. He tasted all its forms. He lived as an orphan and a poor man, then his star shone, then he became like the sun to people. He travelled to different Islamic and Arabic lands, and he knew many types of people.

He held a position of authority and saw how the strong want to overpower the weak. He passed the test of firmness of truth, religion, and certainty, when he removed strong falsehood and supported weak truth. That became the cause of a trial that nearly fed his flesh to the sword of the caliph.

He had no intercessor in that except Allah, then what he was given of a brave heart, clear speech, and strong proof, by which he was saved from death, while death was watching.

From such an intellect and such experience, wisdom flows. Many wise words are reported from Al Shafiʿi.

If they were gathered, as Ibn Hajar said, they would make a large section. They are all formed with carefully chosen words and refined meanings, as if his mouth, as Al Jahiz said about him, strings pearls upon pearls. Here are examples of his excellent words about knowledge, religion, and social life.

His Words About Knowledge

Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman said: Al Shafiʿi said to me, “O Rabiʿ, pleasing people is a goal that cannot be reached. So hold to what benefits you, and keep it, because there is no way to please them.

Know that whoever learns the Qur’an becomes great in people’s eyes, whoever learns hadith has his proof strengthened, whoever learns grammar becomes respected, whoever learns Arabic becomes gentle in nature, whoever learns arithmetic becomes firm in judgement, whoever learns jurisprudence becomes noble in rank.

Whoever does not protect himself, his knowledge will not benefit him. The foundation of all of that is piety.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/144.) (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/99, with some differences from Al Muzani.)

Harmalah ibn Yahya said, “I heard Al Shafiʿi say, ‘No one draws close to Allah, Exalted is He, after fulfilling the obligations with something better than seeking knowledge.’” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/129.)

Similar to that is his saying, “Seeking knowledge is better than voluntary prayer.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.)

He said, “Whoever was laughed at in an issue never forgets it.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.)

He said, “Whoever attends a gathering of knowledge without an inkpot and paper is like someone who attends a mill without grain.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “Seek help for speech through silence, and seek help for deriving through thought.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.) This is as if he meant: before speaking, be silent for a moment, so that speech has meaning and reaches where it is meant.

He said, “The one who seeks knowledge without proof is like a night wood gatherer who carries a bundle of wood, and inside it is a snake that bites him while he does not know.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “The rank of the ulama is piety, their adornment is good character, and their beauty is nobility of the self.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “Whoever does not love knowledge has no good in him, so let there not be between you and him any connection or friendship.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “When a young person takes the front seat, much knowledge escapes him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

Al Shafiʿi was once brought into one of Harun Al Rashid’s rooms, in order to seek permission for him, and with him was the servant Siraj holding the lamp.

Siraj seated him near Abu Al Samad, the tutor of Harun Al Rashid’s children, and Siraj said to Al Shafiʿi, “O Abu ʿAbd Allah, these are the Commander of the Believers’ children, and this is their tutor, so advise him about them.”

He turned to him and said, “Let what you begin with in correcting the Commander of the Believers’ children be correcting your own self, because their eyes are tied to your eyes. What is good to them is what you hold as good, and what is ugly to them is what you dislike.

Teach them the Book of Allah, but do not force it upon them so that they hate it, and do not leave them from it so that they abandon it. Then let them hear the most chaste of poetry and the noblest of hadith, and do not move them from one branch of knowledge to another until they master it, because crowding words into the ear misguides understanding.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/145.)

His Words About Religion, Asceticism, and Piety

He said, “A man is not complete in this life except by four: religion, trustworthiness, self restraint, and steadiness.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “The good of this life and the next is in five qualities: richness of the self, withholding harm, earning lawful wealth, the clothing of piety, and trust in Allah in every state.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “You cannot please all people, so fix what is between you and Allah, then do not care about people.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “Leaving worship is a newly emerged sin.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “The hardest deeds are three: generosity while having little, scrupulousness while alone, and a word of truth in front of someone who is hoped for and feared.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “Hold to asceticism, because asceticism upon the ascetic is more beautiful than jewellery upon a young woman.” (Al Wafi bil Wafayat, 2/174.)

He said, “This path is built upon laziness. If a man took that path at the beginning of the day, he would not reach noon except that he became foolish.” (Sifat al Safwah, 1/4.) He meant by this those who claimed such a path while not following the path of the law.

His Social and Life Wisdom

Al Shafiʿi said, “No people keep their women from marrying men outside them, and keep their men from marrying women outside them, except that their children become foolish.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 133.)

He said to Yunus, “Keeping away from people brings enmity, and opening to them brings companions of evil, so be between withdrawing and opening.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/143.)

He said, “There is no good in the company of someone who you must keep pleasing.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/136.)

He said, “I did not raise anyone above his rank except that I was lowered by the measure that I raised him.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/98.)

He said, “The intelligent person is the one who notices and yet acts as if he did not notice.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/144.)

He said, “Accepting tale bearing is worse than tale bearing, because tale bearing is pointing, and acceptance is approval. The one who points is not like the one who approves.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/144.)

He said, “Whoever is truthful in brotherhood with his brother accepts his excuses, fills his gaps, and forgives his slips.” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/138.)

He said to Yunus ibn ʿAbd Al Aʿla, about how the friend should be treated, “O Yunus, if something reaches you about a friend that you dislike, do not rush to enmity and cutting ties, so that you become someone who removes certainty by doubt. Rather, go to him and say, ‘It reached me about you such and such,’ and do not name the one who conveyed it. If he denies it, say, ‘You are more truthful and more righteous,’ and do not add anything beyond that. If he admits it and you see for him an excuse, accept it.

If you do not see that, say, ‘What did you mean by what reached me about you?’ If he mentions an excuse, accept it. If you do not see a face of excuse, and the path becomes narrow, then count it against him as a bad deed.

Then you have a choice. If you wish, repay him with the like of it with no increase. If you wish, forgive him, and forgiveness is closer to piety and stronger in generosity, because Allah, Exalted is He, said:”

وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثْلُهَا ۖ فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ

“The repayment of a bad deed is a bad deed like it, but whoever forgives and reconciles, his reward is upon Allah.”

“If your self argues with you to repay, then think about the good he gave you before, count it, then weigh against that good this one bad deed, and do not reduce his earlier good because of this one bad deed, because that is oppression itself. O Yunus, if you have a friend, hold him with both hands, because finding a friend is hard, and losing him is easy.” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/143.)

He said, “Three, if you dishonour them they honour you, and if you honour them they dishonour you: a woman, a slave, and a farmer.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “The root of every enmity is doing good to low people.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “The company of one who does not fear shame is shame on the Day of Resurrection.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “The most unjust of people to his own self is the one who humbles himself to one who does not honour him, seeks the affection of one who does not benefit him, and accepts praise from one who does not know him.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “Whoever is angered and does not get angry is a donkey, and whoever is pleased and does not become pleased is a devil.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “Do not consult one who does not have flour in his house.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.) He forbade consulting such a person because his heart is busy with worry about feeding those he supports, and one like that does not benefit in consultation.

He said, “Whoever tells you about someone will tell someone about you. Whoever conveys to you conveys from you. Whoever, when you please him, says about you what is not in you, will also, when you anger him, say about you what is not in you.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

He said, “The intelligent one is not the one who distinguishes between good and evil and chooses good. Rather, the intelligent one is the one who chooses the better of the two, meaning the better of two harms.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72–73.)

His Words About Manliness

Manliness is human dignity and complete manhood. Al Ahnaf was asked, “What is manliness?” He said, “Chastity and earning.” Another was asked about it and he said, “It is that you do not do in secret something that you are ashamed to do openly.” (Taj al ʿArus)

In Al Misbah it says, “Manliness is inner manners that drive a person to stop at good character and good customs.”

Al Shafiʿi said, “Manliness has four pillars: good character, generosity, humility, and gratitude.” He said, “Manliness is the chastity of the limbs from what does not concern them.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 85, in the margin.) (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

He said, “Intercessions are the zakah of manliness.” (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/72.)

Al Shafiʿi rebuked his son Abu ʿUthman and said, advising him, “My son, by Allah, if I knew that cold water weakens anything of my manliness, I would not drink it except hot.”

It is also narrated with an addition, “If today I were among those who compose poetry, I would have mourned manliness.” (Adab Al Shafiʿi, 85.)

Being Invited to the Judiciary

Al Shafiʿi was invited to the judiciary twice. The first was in the days of Caliph Harun Al Rashid, when he was brought to him under suspicion, with some accused people from the descendants of ʿAli, then he became a place of admiration for the caliph due to his knowledge, and so the caliph asked him to take the judiciary, but he refused.

The caliph said, “Ask for what you want.” He said, “My need is that I be given from the share of close relatives in Egypt, and that I be sent there.” So that was done, and a letter was written for him to its governor. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 7/77.)

The second was in the days of Caliph Al Maʾmun, while Al Shafiʿi was in Egypt. The caliph’s messenger came to Egypt, calling Al Shafiʿi to the judiciary, while Al Shafiʿi was severely ill. He said, “O Allah, if it is good for me in my religion, my life, and the end of my affair, then carry it out. Otherwise, take me to You.” He died three days after this supplication, while the messenger was at his door. (Tawali al Taʾsis, 8/84.)

Al Shafiʿi and Lawful Delight

Al Shafiʿi, along with his religion and intellect, was tender and sensitive, and a poet with feeling. He would be moved by pleasant sound. What did not prevent him from what he saw as lawful was his leadership, merit, and knowledge. Rather, he would sometimes respond to a pure desire, without pretending to avoid it for anyone, and without forcing himself to show people what pleases them while hiding what does not.

Al Muzani said, “We passed with Al Shafiʿi and Ibrahim ibn Ismaʿil ibn ʿUlayyah by the house of people, and a servant girl was singing to them:

‘My two friends, why do the riding beasts look as if we see them step back with the people, retreating?’

Al Shafiʿi said, ‘Turn with us so we can listen.’ When she finished, Al Shafiʿi said to Ibrahim, ‘Does this move you?’ He said, ‘No.’ Al Shafiʿi said, ‘Then what is wrong with you?’” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/99.)

It is as if he was saying to him, “Why are you cold in feeling and stiff in emotion, or why do you deprive yourself and your spirit from lawful nourishment that has no harm for someone like you or me?”

Some Supplications of Al Shafiʿi

When a hardship touched Al Shafiʿi, or a trial came upon him, he would turn to Allah with the supplication of a humble servant, certain of servitude, sure of an answer. Allah would not waste his hope and would not neglect his supplication. How many hardships Allah removed from him, and how many tight matters Allah opened for him through supplication.

The greatest matter that surrounded him was when he was carried to the Commander of the Believers Al Rashid with an accusation of rebellion and rising against the state, while death was waiting for him. Allah relieved him faster than anyone could imagine.

That was by his supplication, narrated from him by Al Fadl ibn Al Rabiʿ, the companion of Harun Al Rashid, when he told that story. He said, “I entered upon Harun Al Rashid, and there were before him bundles of swords and kinds of punishment. He said to me, ‘O Fadl.’ I said, ‘At your service, O Commander of the Believers.’

He said, ‘Bring me this man of the Hijaz,’ meaning Al Shafiʿi. I said to myself, ‘Truly we belong to Allah and to Him we return. This man is gone.’ I went to Al Shafiʿi and said, ‘Answer the Commander of the Believers.’

He said, ‘Let me pray two rakʿahs.’ I said, ‘Pray,’ so he prayed. Then he rode a mule he had, and we went together to the house of Al Rashid. When we entered the first entrance hall, Al Shafiʿi moved his lips.

When we reached the presence of Al Rashid, the Commander of the Believers stood up toward him, eager for him, and seated him in his own place, while the men of the Commander of the Believers were standing, watching what had been prepared for him of types of punishment.

Yet he was seated in front of him. They spoke for a long time, then he allowed him to leave. He said to me, ‘O Fadl.’ I said, ‘At your service, O Commander of the Believers.’ He said, ‘Carry before him a purse of money.’ So I carried it.

When we reached the first entrance hall on his way out, I said, ‘I ask you by the One who turned his anger against you into acceptance, tell me what you said in front of the Commander of the Believers until he became pleased.’

He said to me, ‘O Fadl.’ I said, ‘At your service, O master jurist.’ He said, ‘Take from me and preserve from me.’ I said, ‘Allah made you witness that there is no god but He.’ Then he said, ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in the light of Your holiness, the blessing of Your purity, and the greatness of Your majesty, from every defect and harm, and from every visitor from jinn and humans, except a visitor who comes to me with good, O Most Merciful of the merciful.

O Allah, by You is my refuge, in You I seek refuge. By You is my help, in You I seek help. O One for whom the necks of tyrants become low, and the reins of the arrogant become humbled. O Allah, Your remembrance is my sign, my companion, my sleep, and my settled place. I testify that there is no god but You.

Place upon me the canopies of Your protection, and protect me from my fear by good from You, O Most Merciful.’

Al Fadl said, ‘I wrote it and placed it in the chest of my robe. Al Rashid used to become angry with me often. Whenever he intended to become angry, I would move it in front of him, and he would become pleased. This is what I saw from the blessing of Al Shafiʿi.’” (Al Tabaqat al Kubra, 2/152.)

Among the famous supplications of Al Shafiʿi is his saying, “O Allah, O Gentle One, I ask You for gentleness in what the decrees bring.”

Ibn Khallikan said, “It is well known among the ulama for being answered, and it is tried.” (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/306.)

He used to turn to Allah with supplication for even a small reason. He was once sitting on a Friday to handle people’s matters, and a woman came and threw to him a note in which she wrote:

“May Allah pardon a servant who helped with a supplication,
two close friends who were always upon love,
until a tale bearer of desire walked with gossip,
to that one from this one, and they left the covenant.”

Al Shafiʿi wept and said, “This is not a day for handling people’s matters. This is a day for supplication.” He kept saying, “O Allah, O Allah,” until his companions left. (Muʿjam al Udabaʾ, 17/306.)

In this story is evidence of the softness of Al Shafiʿi’s feeling and the purity of his self. Much proof of that has already appeared.

Among what is reported from him is his supplication for a deceased person. Yunus ibn ʿAbd Al Aʿla said, “I heard Al Shafiʿi, and a deceased person was present. When we finished the funeral prayer, he looked at him and said, ‘O Allah, by Your richness without him, and his need of You, forgive him.’” (Sifat al Safwah, 2/142.)

Al Shafiʿi has many other supplications scattered in books of biographies, and this amount is enough here.

Words That Were Unique to Al Shafiʿi

Al Shafiʿi was a believer filled with belief, complete in humanity. He preferred his religion, honour, knowledge, and truth over his own self, his emotions, and his personal pleasure. Words were narrated from him that none before him had said.

This work ends with them. They show that he melted all his personal aims for his religion and his ummah, and in this alone is his lasting pleasure.

Ibn Hibban said in his Sahih, “We mentioned in the chapter of the Mudabbar that Al Shafiʿi has three statements that no one in Islam spoke before him, and no one after him spoke.”

The first: Ibn Khuzaymah said, “I heard Al Muzani say, ‘I heard Al Shafiʿi say, “If a hadith becomes sound to you, then take it, and leave my view.”’

The second: Ibn Al Mundhir said, “I heard Al Hasan ibn Muhammad Al Zaʿfarani say, ‘I heard Al Shafiʿi say, “I never debated anyone while wishing that he would make a mistake.”’

The third: Musa ibn Muhammad Al Daylami said, “I heard Al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman say, ‘I heard Al Shafiʿi say, “I wished that people would learn these books, and none of it would be attributed to me.”’ (Adab Al Shafiʿi wa Manaqibuhu, 325.)

Author

ISHAQ. K