Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafe'i
From Free net encyclopedia
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i (Arabic: ابو عبد الله محمد بن إدريس الشافعي) (767 - January 20, 820) commonly called Imam al-Shafi'i or fully, Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-Abbas ibn Uthman ibn Shafi’i ibn al-Sa’ib ibn ‘Ubayd ibn Abd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn al-Muttalib.
Contents |
Biography
Imam Shafi'i was born in 767 in Asqalan, Gaza. His father died when he was two, after which he and his mother Umm al Hasan moved to Makkah where they lived in extreme poverty.
Many stories have been related about his life. It is said that he memorized the Qur'an at by age seven and by ten he had memorized the Muwatta of Imam Malik. Historical records claim that he became a recognised expounder of Islamic Jurisprudence mufti at the age of fifteen. He recited the maximum portion of the Qur'an daily and more than this during the month of Ramadan. Some accounts claimed he was very handsome, that his beard did not exceed the length of his fist, and that it was very black.
He was also an accomplished archer, poet, and orator. Some accounts claimed there were a group of Bedouin who would come to his lectures just to listen to his eloquent use of the language. He was given the title of Nasir as-Sunnah, the defender of the sunnah.
His teachers included Malik ibn Anas and Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Shaybani, whom he studied under in Madinah and Baghdad. During the reign of Harun ar-Rashid, he had an appointment as a judge in Najran. His dedication to justice, even when if it required criticizing the governor, caused him some problems, and he was falsely accused of aiding the Alawis in a revolt. At this time, al Shaybani was the chief justice, and his defense of ash-Shafe'i, coupled with ash-Shafe'i’s own eloquent argument, convinced Harun Rashid to dismiss the charge, and to direct al Shaybani to take ash-Shafi'i to Baghdad.
He was asked why he used a walking stick. He replied, “To remind myself that I am on a journey out of this life.” He died at the age of 53 on January 20, 820 and was buried in al-Fustat, Egypt. Sultan Salahuddin al-Ayyubi built a madrasah on the site.
The Jurisprudence of ash-Shafi'i
In Baghdad, he developed his first madhab, inspired by the teachings of both Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik. Thus, his work there is known as al-Madhab al-Qadim li al-Imam ash-Shafi’i, or the old school of ash-Shafi'i.
Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller writes, “When the persecution arose over the uncreatedness of the Qur’an, he spoke to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and they mutually agreed that rather than risk the loss of both Islam’s living mujtahids, they should part company, Shafi’i travelling with his books and belongings to Cairo, and Imam Ahmad remaining in Iraq.” In less than four years ash-Shafi'i had re-established his second school of fiqh, which is transmitted in his work Kitab al-Umm.
Apocryphal accounts claim that Imam Ahmad said of ash-Shafi'i, I never saw anyone adhere more to hadith than al-Shafe’i. No one preceded him in writing down the hadith in a book. Imam Ahmad is also claimed to have said, Not one of the scholars of hadith touched an inkwell nor a pen except he owed a huge debt to al-Shafi’i.
Among the books that ash-Shafe'i wrote is ar-Risalah, the first book wherein he examined usul al-fiqh (sources of jurisprudence): the Qur’an, the Sunnah, qiyas (analogy), and ijma' (scholarly consensus). He also divided innovation into good and bad, based on the recorded saying of the second Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab about the tarawih prayers. He authored more than 100 books. Imam ash-Shaybani said, If the scholars of hadith speak, it is in the language of al Shafi’i.
Imam Shafi’i’s followers include some of the foremost scholars of Islam, such as: Imam al- Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawud, Imam Tirmidhi, Imam Nasa’i, Imam Ibn Majah, Imam Bayhaqi, Imam al-Hakim. Other great followers of the Shafi’i School were: ibn Hibban, Imam Suyuti, al-Dhahabi, Imam al-Ghazali, and An-Nawawi.
The school of Imam Shafe’i is followed in many places throughout the world, including Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Yemen, Iraq, southern India and among the Kurdish people. Today, many English speaking Muslims are introduced to the madhab of Imam Shafi’i through the translated works Umdat as-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller) and al-Maqasid, both done by Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.