Make An Appraisal On Shafi'i School of Thought.

Being a paper submitted by;

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/3721

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/2879

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/4215

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/4761

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/3426

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/4705

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/4088

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/0835

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/1997

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/2112

Abdussalam Abdulrahman Ahmad

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/1358

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/1977

BASUG/UG/LAW/21/0285

BASUG/UG/LAW/22/5692

To Barrister W. Y. Muhammad
Introduction;
Being the fact that Islamic laws are primarily or basically extracted from the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah
of prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Islamic scholars are allowed to drive their conclusion logically and
piously from the Qur'an and the Sunnah of prophet Muhammad regarding the particular principle of
Islam1. Indeed, This is what caused the birth of Islamic jurisprudence known as (Al-fiqh). Scholars while
driving their conclusion on a particular issue have perspectively differed. This is also what consequently
gave birth of the different Schools of thought. This Appraisal would examine the Shafi'i school of thought
as one of the most popular four Schools of thought 2. The Appraisal would succinctly and concisely give
the biography of Imam Shafi'i, his contributions and development brought about by his School to the
Islamic jurisprudence.

Early Life of Imam Al-shafi'i;

Imam’s full name is Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Idris Al-Shafi’ee ibn Al-Abbas ibn Uthman ibn Shafie
bin Ubaid ibn Abdu Yazid ibn Hashim ibn Al-Muttalib [(father of Abdul Muttalib grandfather of the
Prophet (S.A.W.)] bin Abd Manaf. He is the Only Imam who is related to Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.) as
he belonged to Qurayshi tribe of Banu Muttalib, which was the sister tribe of the Banu Hashim [tribe of
Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.)].3

Imam Shafi'ee was born in the year 150 AH (767 AC) in Ghaza, Palestine. It was the same year in which
the Great Imam Abu Hanifah had passed away. He lost his father during infancy and was raised by his
mother under very poor circumstances. Fearing the waste of his son’s lineage, his mother decided to
move to Mecca where their relatives lived. Imam was very young at that time. It is quoted by some
scholars that he was two years old when his mother migrated to Mecca. Therefore, he spent his
formative years acquiring religious education in the cities of Mecca and Medina. According to some
sources, he memorized the Quran by the age of seven or nine. 4

Despite the poverty-stricken family from which he raised, Imam Al-shafi'i dedicated himself to the
seeking of knowledge. He left Mecca for Madina to study at the feet of Imam Malik bin Anas, a well
known scholar and jurist in Medina during that time. Imam Al-shafi'i was then twenty

1
Sunan Abi Dawud: 3592, The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked Mu'az bin Jabal “...What will you do if you do not find any
guidance in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and in Allah's Book? He replied: I shall do my best to form an opinion and I
shall spare no effort....”

2
Hanafi, Maliki and Hambali.

3
<https://www.islamicfinder.org/knowledge/biography/story-of-imam-alshafiee/amp/> assessed on 15/June/2023.

4
Ibid
years of age, he memorized the whole book of Al-muwatta of Imam Makik, and continued his study with
Imam Malik until the latter's death in the year 179 AH/796 AD. By the time of Imam Malik's death, Al-
shafi'i had already gained reputation as a famous jurist in Hijaz and other places. 5

His contributions;
Indeed, Imam Al-shafi'i has contributed immensely to the development of Islamic jurisprudence. With all
humility and humbleness we can say that Imam Shafi'i was the “father of jurisprudence” and the
founder of the science of legal theory, properly called “Usul Al-fiqh”. His Risala is thought to have
become “a model for both jurists and theologians who wrote on the subject”. And although it is
acknowledged that later theory further elaborated the themes of Shafi'i's treatise and sometimes even
modified them, the origination of legal theory nonetheless remains his achievement. The medieval
dictum that “Shafi'i is to usul al-fiqh what Aristotle was to logic” is still as valid as when it first appeared 6.
Thus his contributions would be examine as follows;

1. He was the founder of the Shaffi Madh’hab (Shaffi School of Thought).

2. He wrote several books which include Kitab-al-Risala, Kitab-al-Umm.

3. He accepted Ijmah as a source of Shariah as long at it involves the whole community.

He also looked at religious matters with an independent legal reasoning.

4. He was the father of jurisprudence and the founder of the science of legal theory, properly called
“Usul Al-fiqh”.

5. He is also credited with having pioneered the idea of making a distinction between judicial application
of discretion in legal matters (Istihsan) and pure juristic reasoning by analogy (Qiyas).

Imam Al-shafi'i School of thought.

Unlike other schools of thought, Shafi'i school was founded and established by the Imam Al-shafi'i
himself. Shafi'i school was the third amidst the other schools of thought. Shafi'i school was founded
based on teaching philosophy and doctrines of Imam Al-shafi'i. One very interesting thing with the
Shafi'i school of thought is that, the founding father of Shafi'i School has a link with all other three
schools of thought, as either student or teacher.

Imam Al-shafi'i has expressly stated in his Book (Al-umm and Al-risalah) the principles upon which his
school would be established. These principles include; The Holy Qur'an, Sunnah of the Prophet
5
Abdurrrahman I. Doi, 'Shari'a: The Islamic Law' (1983 Center of Islamic Legal Studies Ahmad Bello University Zaria, Nigeria)
107.

6
Wael B. Hallaq, 'Was Al-shafi'i The Master Architect Of Islamic Jurisprudence?' International Journal of Middle East Studies,
(2015 Combrigde University press) 1.
Muhammad PBUH, consensus opinion of the Islamic jurists, dictums of the Sahaba (companions) if it is
not inconsistent with another companion's dictum, and the analogical deduction on the matter which
there is no clear text on it.

Shafi'i School was an average school, harsher than Hanafi school and easier than Maliki school, that is
why millions of followers today are proud to follow his footsteps in various juristic opinions that he has
left behind for their guidance. His followers are mainly found in Yemen, Egypt, Syria, in countries of
South East Asia like Malaysia, Indonesia, East Africa and some extent scattered in all parts of the Muslim
world.

Distinctive features between Imam Al-shafi'i School of thought and other

schools;
There are many distinctive features between Al-shafi'i School and other three schools of thought, that
was consequently resulted for the following reasons;

1. A firm understanding and strict application of the sunna of the Prophet (salla Allah alaihi wa sallam)
which is the result of the school’s founder, Muhammad ibn Idris, having studied directly under the imam
of Dar al-Hijra, Malik ibn Anas, and serving as one of the primary teachers of the great imams of the
sunna Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

2. All his books were written by his humble self, and then dictate it to his disciples.

3. Another different here is that Shafi'i School was established by the Imam Al-shafi'i himself, while
other schools were established and named by the students of that School after the demise of their
respective leader.

4. Shafi'i School had a link with all other schools either as a student or as the teacher.

5. Shafi'i School was an average school, harsher than Hanafi school and easier than Maliki school.

Developments brought about by the Shafi'i School of thought to the Islamic

jurisprudence.

Actually Imam Al-shafi'i was the master Architect of Islamic jurisprudence. Because during the last three
or four decades, modern scholarship has increasingly come to recognize Muhammad Ibn Idris Al-shafi'i
as having played a most central role in the early development of Islamic jurisprudence. It was Joseph
Schacht7 who demonstrated Shafi'i's remarkable success in anchoring the entire edifice of the law not
7
Joseph Franz Schacht (1902 –1969) was a British-German professor of Arabic and Islam at Columbia University in New York.
only in the Qur'an, which by his time was taken for granted, but mainly, and more importantly, in the
traditions of the Prophet. Shafi'i prominent status has been further bolstered by the fact that he was the
first Muslim jurist ever to articulate his legal theory in writing, in what has commonly become known as
Al-risalah.

Schacht's portentous findings, coupled with the high esteem in which Shafi'i is held in medieval and
modern Islam, have led Islamicists to believe that Shafi'i was the "father of Muslim jurisprudence" and
the founder of the science of legal theory, properly called usul al-fiqh.

His Risala is thought to have become "a model for both jurists and theologians who wrote on the
subject." And although it is acknowledged that later theory further elaborated the themes of Shafi'i's
treatise and sometimes even modified them, the origination of legal theory nonetheless remains his
achievement. Thus, the continuity between Shafi'i's theory and classical usul al-fiqh would seem to
represent a natural development, especially in that it tallies with our perception of Shafi'i, not only as
the "master architect" of Islamic jurisprudence, but as the jurist-victor who brought the 8th-century
unbridled law down to the knees of revelation 8.

Conclusion;
Conclusively, let us conclude by praising and commending Imam al-Shafi’i especially in term of his
eloquent orator, his language and speech were beautiful and one of his students once said;

“Every scholar gives more in his books than when you meet him personally, except for al-Shafi’i (RA)
whose verbal discussion gives you more than his books”.

References;
1. Abdurrrahman I. Doi, 'Shari'a: The Islamic Law' (1983 Center of Islamic Legal Studies Ahmad Bello
University Zaria, Nigeria) 107.

2. Wael B. Hallaq, 'Was Al-shafi'i The Master Architect Of Islamic Jurisprudence?' International Journal
of Middle East Studies, (2015 Combrigde University press) 1.

3. <https://www.islamicfinder.org/knowledge/biography/story-of-imam-alshafiee/amp/> assessed on
15/June/2023.

8
Wael B. Hallaq, 'Was Al-shafi'i The Master Architect Of Islamic Jurisprudence?' International Journal of Middle East Studies,
(2015 Combrigde University press) 1.