HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL

3. Historical Development of the Shafi’i Fiqh

The school of Imam al-Shafi’i went through five major developmental stages:

1. The stage of ta’sis: the period in which the foundations of the school were
established. This period represents the earliest stage in the school’s
development and it ended with the death of its founder, Muhammad ibn Idris al-
Shafi’i, who left behind works such as al-Umm and others.

2. The stage of naql: the period in which the school developed during the
period of ta’sis was transmitted. The responsibility of transmitting and spreading
the Shafi’i school was shouldered by the students of al-Shafi’i. The most famous
work written by al-Shafi’i’s students during this period is al-Mukhtasar by Imam
al-Muzani.

3. The stage of tadwin and tawassu: the period in which scholars began
formally recording the fiqh of al-Shafi’i on paper as well as expounding on many
legal issues. From this period, two schools emerged:

a. The Iraqi school, which was led by Abu Hamid al-Isfara’ini, al-Mawardi,
Abu Tayyib al-Tabari, al-Bandaniji, al-Mahamili, Sulaym al-Razi, and others.

b. The Khurasani school, which was led by al-Qaffal al-Saghir, Abu Bakr al-
Marwazi, Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni, al-Furani, al-Qadi Husayn, Abu ‘Ali al-Sinji,
al-Mas’udi, and others.

1. The stage of tahrir: the period of revision. This phase in the school’s
development was led by the two sheikhs of the school, Imam al-Rafi’i, who
recorded his findings in al-Muharrar, Sharh al-Kabir and al-Sharh al-Saghir, two
works explaining Ghazzali’s al-Wajiz, and Imam al-Nawawi, whose impact on the
school during this critical stage of development is exemplified by works
like Minhaj al-Talibin, al-Majmu’, a commentary of Shirazi’s al-Muhadhdhab,
and Rawdat al-Talibin. These are the most important works of al-Rafi’i and al-
Nawawi. In these works, al-Rafi’i and al-Nawawi revise the legal issues of the
school as well as the proofs for those legal issues and determine which of the
narrations of the school are correct and which statements of the scholars of the
school should be given consideration.
1. The stage of istiqrar: the period of consolidation in which the two great imams,
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, and Shams al-Din al-Ramli, who, in the works Tuhfat al-
Muhtaj and Nihayat al-Muhtaj, discuss the views and statements of earlier
scholars of the school that neither al-Rafi’ nor al-Nawawi had addressed, in
addition to correcting what remained of the school’s legal issues and tracking
various issues throughout the chapters of fiqh.

Having undergone verification at the hands of al-Rafi’I and al-Nawawi, with the
issues left unaddressed by the two imams now finally taken care of by Ibn Hajar
and al-Ramli, the school reached its final stages of development. Because of the
rigour these imams had when revising and consolidating the school, scholars of
the later-Shafi’I school wholeheartedly approved of their works. For whatever al-
Rafi’i and al-Nawawi agreed upon became the reliable position, and if either of
the imams were found disagreeing on an issue, later-Shafi’is concluded that the
view of al-Nawawi is to be given preference—notwithstanding the fact that
formal legal edicts on the view of either imam is permitted. And for any legal
issue in the school that has been left unaddressed, the reliable position is what
Ibn Hajar and al-Ramli agree upon. If Ibn Hajar and al-Ramli hold divergent
views on an issue the people of Hijaz and Hadramawt give preference to Ibn
Hajar, while those in Egypt and the Levant tend to support al-Ramli. As a
concluding remark, it is permitted to act on and issue formal legal verdicts upon
views frequently conveyed by in books by scholars other than al-Rafi’I, al-
Nawawi, Ibn Hajar, al-Ramli as long as there is not agreement that the
respective viewpoint is an outright mistake, the product of absentmindedness, or
weak, and the only way a view can be known as such is by studying under the
masters of this field.