| Full Name |
Muḥammad ibn Idrīs ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿUthmān ibn al-Shāfiʿī al-Muṭṭalibī al-Qurashī |
| Kunya |
Abū ʿAbdullāh |
| Birth |
767 CE / 150 AH — Gaza, Palestine |
| Death |
820 CE / 204 AH — Fustat (Old Cairo), Egypt |
| Title |
Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Jurist, Scholar of Usul al-Fiqh |
| Position |
Founder of the Shāfiʿī School of Islamic Jurisprudence |
| Notable Works |
Al-Risālah, Al-Umm |
| Regions of Influence |
East Africa, Yemen, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines), Egypt, Levant, parts of the Arabian Peninsula |
Life, Legacy, and the Shāfiʿī School
Early Life and Education
Born in 767 CE (150 AH) in Gaza, Palestine, the same year Imām Abū Ḥanīfa passed away. He was of Qurashi lineage, tracing his ancestry to the Prophet’s ﷺ clan, Banū al-Muṭṭalib. Orphaned at a young age, he moved with his mother to Mecca, where he memorized the Qur’an and immersed himself in Islamic learning.
Education and Teachers
He studied under prominent scholars of the time, including:
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Muslim ibn Khālid al-Zanjī — Mufti of Mecca
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Mālik ibn Anas — from whom he learned the Muwaṭṭaʾ by heart
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Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī — leading Ḥanafī jurist and student of Abū Ḥanīfa
Through these teachers, he merged the traditions of the people of Medina with the reasoning methods of Iraq.
Expertise and Works
Imām al-Shāfiʿī is credited with formalizing uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) in his seminal work Al-Risālah. He authored Al-Umm, a major compendium of Shāfiʿī jurisprudence. His methodology balanced reliance on Qur’an and Sunnah with analogical reasoning (qiyās), rejecting weak narrations and preferring authentic hadith.
Famous For
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Founding the Shāfiʿī madhhab, synthesizing elements from Mālikī and Ḥanafī schools
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Establishing systematic principles for deriving legal rulings (uṣūl al-fiqh)
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Traveling widely to spread and refine his school of thought
Character and Political Stance
Renowned for eloquence, humility, and piety. Though respected by rulers, he maintained scholarly independence. His debates were marked by respect for differing opinions, and he often prayed for his opponents.
Famous Quote
“My opinion is correct, but it could be wrong. The opinion of others is wrong, but it could be right.”
(Reported by Ibn ʿAsākir in Tārīkh Dimashq, vol. 51, p. 357)
Legacy
The Shāfiʿī school became dominant in East Africa, Southeast Asia, Yemen, and parts of Egypt and the Levant. It remains one of the four major Sunni schools, with followers worldwide. His works laid the foundation for modern legal theory in Islamic law.
Interesting Facts
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Memorized the Qur’an by age seven and Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ by age ten
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Famous for his exceptional memory able to recite entire books after a single reading
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Considered both Mālik ibn Anas and Abū Ḥanīfa’s students among his teachers through direct study and scholarly transmission
References
- Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb
- Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, Tārīkh Baghdād
- Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh Dimashq
- Al-Shāfiʿī, Al-Risālah, Al-Umm
