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Shafi'i school

{{Short description|School of Islamic jurisprudence}}

{{Redirect|Shafi}}

{{Sunni Islam|Sunni Schools of Law}}

The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab ({{langx|ar|ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلشَّافِعِيّ|translit=al-madhhab al-shāfiʿī}}) or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam.{{sfn|Hallaq|2009|p=31}}{{sfn|Saeed|2008|p=17}} It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al-Shafi'i ({{circa|767–820 CE}}), "the father of Muslim jurisprudence", in the early 9th century.{{sfn|Ramadan|2006|pp=27–77}}{{sfn|Kamali|2008|p=77}}{{Cite web |title=Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shāfiʿī |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abu-Abd-Allah-ash-Shafii|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=8 April 2024 |language=}}

The other three schools of Sunnī jurisprudence are Ḥanafī, Mālikī and Ḥanbalī.{{sfn|Hallaq|2009|p=31}}{{sfn|Saeed|2008|p=17}} Like the other schools of fiqh, Shafi{{ayin}}i recognize the First Four Caliphs as the Islamic prophet Muhammad's rightful successors and relies on the Qurʾān and the "sound" books of Ḥadīths as primary sources of law.{{sfn|Ramadan|2006|pp=27–77}}{{Cite web |last=Shanay |first=Bulend |title=Shafi'iyyah |url=http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/sunni/shaf.html |website=University of Cumbria}} The Shafi'i school affirms the authority of both divine law-giving (the Qurʾān and the Sunnah) and human speculation regarding the Law.{{cite web |title=Shāfiʿī |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shafiiyah |access-date= |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica}} Where passages of Qurʾān and/or the Ḥadīths are ambiguous, the school seeks guidance of Qiyās (analogical reasoning).{{sfn|Hasyim|2005|pp=75–77}} The Ijmā' (consensus of scholars or of the community) was "accepted but not stressed". The school rejected the dependence on local traditions as the source of legal precedent and rebuffed the Ahl al-Ra'y (personal opinion) and the Istiḥsān (juristic discretion).

The Shafi{{ayin}}i school was widely followed in the Middle East until the rise of the Ottomans and the Safavids. Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafi{{ayin}}i Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far as India and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Christelow|2000|p=377}}{{sfn|Pouwels|2002|p=139}} The Shafi{{ayin}}i school is now predominantly found in parts of the Hejaz and the Levant, Lower Egypt, Kurdistan, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia, and Indonesia, in the North Caucasus and generally all across the Indian Ocean (Horn of Africa and the Swahili Coast in Africa and coastal South Asia and Southeast Asia).{{Cite web |year=2013 |title=International Religious Freedom Report: Comoros |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/222247.pdf |publisher=United States Department of State |quote=}}{{ref|a}}{{Cite book |title=Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. p 440.}}

One who ascribes to the Shafi'i school is called a Shafi'i, Shafi'ite or Shafi'ist ({{langx|ar|ٱلشَّافِعِيّ|translit=al-shāfiʿī}}, {{plural form}} {{langx|ar| ٱلشَّافِعِيَّة|translit=al-shāfiʿiyya|label=none}} or {{langx|ar| ٱلشَّوَافِع|translit=al-shawāfiʿ|label=none}}).

Principles

{{Aqidah}}

The fundamental principle of the Shafi{{ayin}}i thought depends on the idea that "to every act performed by a believer who is subject to the Law there corresponds a statute belonging to the Revealed Law or the Shari'a".{{Cite book |last=Chaumont |first=Éric |url=https://brill.com/eio |title=The Encyclopedia Of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=1997 |volume=IX |pages=182–183 |chapter=Al-Shafi}} This statute is either presented as such in the Qurʾān or the Sunnah or it is possible, by means of analogical reasoning (Qiyas), to infer it from the Qurʾān or the Sunnah.

As-Shafi{{ayin}}i was the first jurist to insist that Ḥadīth were the decisive source of law (over traditional doctrines of earlier thoughts).{{Cite book |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |editor-last=Esposito |editor-first=John L. |pages=285–86|isbn=978-0-19-512558-0 }} In order of priority, the sources of jurisprudence according to the Shafi{{ayin}}i thought, are:{{sfn|Ramadan|2006|pp=27–77}}{{sfn|Al-Zarkashi|1393|p=209}}

= The Foundation (al asl) =

  • Qurʾān — the sacred scripture of Islam.{{sfn|Ramadan|2006|pp=27–77}}
  • Sunnah — defined by Al-Shāfiʿī as "the sayings, the acts, and the tacit acquiescence of Prophet Muhammad as related in solidly established traditions".{{sfn|Al-Zarkashi|1393|p=209}}

The school rejected dependence on local community practice as the source of legal precedent.{{sfn|Brown|2014|p=39}}

= Ma'qul al-asl =

  • Qiyas with Legal Proof or Dalil Shari'a — "Analogical reasoning as applied to the deduction of juridical principles from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah."{{sfn|Ramadan|2006|pp=27–77}}{{sfn|Al-Zarkashi|1393|p=209}}
  • Analogy by Cause (Qiyas al-Ma'na/Qiyas al-Illa)
  • Analogy by Resemblance (Qiyas al-Shabah)
  • Ijmā' — consensus of scholars or of the community ("accepted but not stressed").

The concept of Istishab was first introduced by the later Shafi{{ayin}}i scholars.{{Cite book |last=Heffening |first=W. |url=https://brill.com/eio |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1934 |volume=IV |pages=252–53 |chapter=Al-Shafi'i}} Al-Shafi{{ayin}}i also postulated that "penal sanctions lapse in cases where repentance precedes punishment".

Risālah

The groundwork legal text for the Shafi{{ayin}}i law is al-Shafiʽi's al-Risala ("the Message"), composed in Egypt. It outlines the principles of Shafi{{ayin}}i legal thought as well as the derived jurisprudence.{{sfn|Khadduri|1961|pp=14–22}} A first version of the Risālah, al-Risalah al-Qadima, produced by al-Shafiʽi during his stay in Baghdad, is currently lost.

Proximity of Shia and Shafi'i

Shia jurists, based on the narrations of Fourteen Innocents, believe that "In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful" is part of all the surahs of the Qur'an, except the Surah of Ba'at. And "Shafi'i" jurists, unlike other Sunni sects, agree with the Shi'a opinion, and consider "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful" as part of all the surahs of the Qur'an. Therefore, it is considered obligatory to recite it in a loud voice in the Jahriyeh prayer.

Differences from Mālikī and Ḥanafī thoughts

Al-Shāfiʿī fundamentally criticised the concept of judicial conformism (the Istiḥsan).{{Cite book |last=Chaumont |first=Éric |url=https://brill.com/eio |title=The Encyclopedia Of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=1997 |volume=IX |pages=185–86 |chapter=Al-Shafi'iyya}}

= With Mālikī view =

  • Shafi{{ayin}}i school argued that various existing local traditions may not reflect the practice of Muhammad (a critique to the Mālikī thought). The local traditions, according to the Shāfiʿī understanding, thus cannot be treated as sources of law.

= With Ḥanafī view =

  • The Shafi{{ayin}}i school rebuffed the Ahl al-Ra'y (personal opinion) and the Istiḥsān (juristic discretion). It insisted that the rules of the jurists could no longer be invoked in legal issues without additional authentications.[https://web.archive.org/web/20141016211809/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1139 Istislah] The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press[https://web.archive.org/web/20141011024153/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1136 Istihsan] The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press The school refused to admit doctrines that had no textual basis in either the Qurʾān or Ḥadīths, but were based on the opinions of Islamic scholars (the Imams).{{sfn|Ridgeon |2003|p=259–262}}
  • The Shafi{{ayin}}i thinking believes that the methods may help to "substitute man for God and Prophet Muhammad, the only legitimate legislators" and "true knowledge and correct interpretation of religious obligations would suffer from arbitrary judgments infused with error".{{Cite web |title=Istiḥsān |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/istihsan |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1139 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016211809/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1139 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 October 2014 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Istislah}}{{Cite book |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1136 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011024153/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1136 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2014 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Istihsan}}{{sfn|Hallaq|2009a|p=58–71}}

History

File:Indian Ocean-CIA WFB Map.png littoral.]]

Al-Shāfiʿī ({{Circa|767}}–820 AD) visited most of the great centres of Islamic jurisprudence in the Middle East during the course of his travels and amassed a comprehensive knowledge of the different ways of legal theory. He was a student of Mālik ibn Anas, the founder of the Mālikī school of law, and of Muḥammad Shaybānī, the Baghdad Ḥanafī intellectual.{{sfn|Haddad|2007|p=121}}{{sfn|Dutton||p=16}}

  • The Shafi{{ayin}}i thoughts were initially spread by Al-Shafi{{ayin}}i students in Cairo and Baghdad. By the 10th century, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and Syria also became chief centres of Shafi{{ayin}}i ideas.
  • The school later exclusively held the judgeships in Syria, Kirman, Bukhara and the Khorasan. It also flourished in northern Mesopotamia and in Daylam. The Ghurids also endorsed the Shafi{{ayin}}is in the 11th and 12th centuries AD.
  • Under Salah al-Din, the Shafi{{ayin}}i school again became the paramount thought in Egypt (the region had come under Shi'a influence prior to this period). It was the "official school" of the Ayyubid dynasty and remained prominent during Mamlūk period also. Baybars, the Mamlūk sultan, later appointed judges from all four madhabs in Egypt.
  • Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafi{{ayin}}i Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far India and the Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Christelow |2000|p=377}}{{sfn|Pouwels |2002|p=139}}

= Under Ottomans and the Safavids =

  • Rise of the Ottomans in the 16th century resulted in the replacement of Shafi{{ayin}}i judges by Ḥanafī scholars.{{sfn|Hallaq|2009a|p=58–71}}
  • After the beginning of the Safavid rule, the presence of the Shafi's in Iran was limited to the western regions of the country.{{Cite journal |last=Naghshbandi |first=Sayed Navid |date=2022-08-23 |title=The First Iranian Shafi'is and Their Role in the Propagation of the Shafi'i School During the Fourth Century AH in Iran |url=https://jhic.ut.ac.ir/article_90126_en.html |journal=Iranian Journal for the History of Islamic Civilization |language=en |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=119–146 |doi=10.22059/jhic.2022.335807.654309 |issn=2228-7906}}{{Cite web |title=Iran |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/iran/ |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=The arrival of Seljuks at Khorasan and the sufferings of Nishapurian Shafi'is -Ash'aris. |url=https://tuhistory.tabrizu.ac.ir/issue_778_779.html?lang=en}}{{Cite book |title=Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. pg. 440.}}

Distribution

File:Madhhab Map3.png

The Shafi{{ayin}}i school is presently predominant in the following parts of the world:{{Cite web |title=Islamic Jurisprudence & Law |url=https://veil.unc.edu/religions/islam/law/ |website=University of North Carolina}}

The Shafi{{ayin}}i school is one of the largest school of Sunni madhhabs by number of adherents.{{sfn|Saeed|2008|p=17}} The demographic data by each fiqh, for each nation, is unavailable and the relative demographic size are estimates.

Notable Shafi{{ayin}}is

{{col-begin}}

{{Col-3}}

In Hadith:

In Tafsir:

{{Col-3}}

In Fiqh:

In Usul al-Fiqh:

In Arabic language studies:

In Theology:

{{Col-3}}

In Philosophy:

In Sufism

In history

Statesmen

File:Tabaqat al-Subki.jpg by Shaykh al-Islam Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370)]]

{{Col-end}}

= Contemporary Shafi{{ayin}}i scholars =

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}

From Middle East and North Africa:

From Southeast Asia:

From South Asia:

{{div col end}}

See also

{{Portal|Islam|Politics}}

References

= Notes =

: 1.{{note|a}}"The law provides sanctions for any religious practice other than the Sunni Shafiʽi doctrine of Islam and for prosecution of converts from Islam, and bans proselytizing for any religion except Islam."

= Citations =

{{reflist|30em}}

= Bibliography =

{{refbegin}}

Primary sources

  • {{cite book|last1=Al-Zarkashi|first1=Badr al-Din|title=Al-Bahr Al-Muhit Vol VI|url=|date=1393|publisher= |isbn= }}
  • {{cite book|last1=Khadduri|first1=Majid |title='Islamic Jurisprudence: Shafi{{ayin}}i's Risala|url=|date=1961|publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn= }}
  • {{cite book|last1= |first1= |title=Al-Shafi{{ayin}}i: The Epistle on Legal Theory - Risalah fi usul al-fiqh|url=|date=2013 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0814769980|translator-last1=Lowry |translator-first1=Joseph}}

Scholarly sources

  • {{cite book|last1=Hallaq|first1=Wael B.|author-link=Wael B. Hallaq|title=An Introduction to Islamic Law|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontois0000hall|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521678735 }}
  • {{cite book|last1=Saeed|first1=Abdullah |title=The Qur'an: An Introduction|date=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415421256}}
  • {{cite book |last=Ramadan |first=Hisham M. |year=2006 |title=Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-0991-9}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Kamali|first1=Mohammad Hashim|author-link=Mohammad Hashim Kamali|title=Shari'ah Law: An Introduction|url=https://archive.org/details/shariahlawintrod0000kama|url-access=registration|date=2008|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1851685653 }}
  • {{cite book|last1=Hasyim |first1=Syafiq |title=Understanding Women in Islam: An Indonesian Perspective|url=|date=2005|publisher=Equinox|isbn=978-9793780191}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Hallaq |first1=Wael B. |title=Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations|url=|date=2009a|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521861472}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Jonathan A. C.|title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy|url=https://archive.org/details/misquotingmuhamm0000brow/page/39|date=2014|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=978-1780744209}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Ridgeon |first1=Lloyd |title=Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present|url=|date=2003|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0415297967}}
  • {{cite book| title=The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qurʼan, the Muwaṭṭaʼ and Madinan ʻAmal |last=Dutton |first=Yasin|page=}}
  • {{cite book |last=Haddad |first=Gibril F.|title=The Four Imams and Their Schools |location=|publisher=Muslim Academic Trust, London |year=2007 |pages=}}
  • {{cite book |last=Pouwels |first=Randall L.|title=Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam|location=|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002 |isbn=978-0521523097}}
  • {{cite book |last=Christelow |first=Allan |title="Islamic Law in Africa," in The History of Islam in Africa|location=|publisher= Ohio University Press|year=2000 |isbn=978-0821412978|editor-first1=Nehemia |editor-last1=Levtzion|editor-first2= Randall |editor-last2=Pouwels}}

{{refend}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |author-link= |date=2013|title=The Epistle on Legal Theory: A Translation of Al-Shafi'i's Risalah|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt17mvkhj |location= |publisher=New York University Press|jstor= j.ctt17mvkhj|isbn=9781479855445|translator-last1=Lowry|translator-first1= Joseph E.|last1= Al-Shāfiʿī|first1= Muḥammad ibn Idrīs|last2= Lowry|first2= Joseph E.}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Cilardo |first=Agostino |url=https://www.abc-clio.com/products/A3880C/ |title=Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |editor-last=Fitzpatrick |editor-first=Coeli |edition=|chapter=Shafiʽi Fiqh |editor-last2=Walker |editor-first2=Adam Hani }}
  • Yahia, Mohyddin (2009). Shafi{{ayin}}i et les deux sources de la loi islamique, Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, {{ISBN|978-2-503-53181-6}}
  • Rippin, Andrew (2005). Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 90–93. {{ISBN|0-415-34888-9}}.
  • Calder, Norman, Jawid Mojaddedi, and Andrew Rippin (2003). Classical Islam: A Sourcebook of Religious Literature. London: Routledge. Section 7.1.
  • Schacht, Joseph (1950). The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford: Oxford University. pp. 16.
  • Khadduri, Majid (1987). Islamic Jurisprudence: Shafi{{ayin}}i's Risala. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society. pp. 286.
  • Abd Majid, Mahmood (2007). Tajdid Fiqh Al-Imam Al-Syafi'i. Seminar pemikiran Tajdid Imam As Shafie 2007.
  • al-Shafi{{ayin}}i, Muhammad b. Idris, "The Book of the Amalgamation of Knowledge" translated by A.Y. Musa in Hadith as Scripture: Discussions on The Authority Of Prophetic Traditions in Islam, New York: Palgrave, 2008.
  • BinAzeez (2025).'A concise guide to Arkan ul Iman and Arkan ul Islam' PDF download:https://archive.org/details/Salah_Guide

External links

  • [http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/islam/sunni/shaf.html Shafi'iyyah (University of Cumbria)]

[https://archive.org/details/Salah_Guide

Al Falah (A concise guide to

Arkan ul Iman and Arkan ul Islam as pdf)]

{{Shafi'i scholars}}

{{Islamic Theology}}

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Category:Schools of Sunni jurisprudence

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