Shafi'i school

The Shafi'i school (Arabic: ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-madhhab al-shāfiʿī) is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition.^[1][2] It is named after the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al-Shafi'i (c. 767–820 CE), also known as "the father of Muslim jurisprudence",^[3] in the early 9th century.^[4][5][3] One who subscribes to the Shafi'i school is called a Shafiite (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-shāfiʿī, pl. ٱلشَّافِعِيَّة, al-shāfiʿīyah or ٱلشَّوَافِع, al-shawāfiʿ).

The other three schools of Sunnī jurisprudence are Ḥanafī, Mālikī and Ḥanbalī.^[1][2] Like the other schools of fiqh, Shafiʽi 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.^[4][6] The Shafi'i school affirms the authority of both divine law-giving (the Qurʾān and the Sunnah) and human speculation regarding the Law.^[7] Where passages of Qurʾān and/or the Ḥadīths are ambiguous, the school seeks guidance of Qiyās (analogical reasoning).^[7][8] The Ijmā' (consensus of scholars or of the community) was "accepted but not stressed".^[7] 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).^[7][9]

The Shafi'i school is followed by more than 350 million people, comprising around 17.5% of the Muslim population worldwide.^[10] As such, it is the third-largest Sunni school and is followed predominantly in Lower Egypt, the Horn of Africa, Southeast Asia and among the Kurdish Muslim population throughout Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The Shafiʽi school was widely followed in the Middle East until the rise of the Ottomans and the Safavids.^[6][11] Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafiʽi Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far as Southeast Asia.^[12][13]

Principles

The fundamental principle of the Shafiʽi 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".^[9] 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.^[9]

Al-Shafiʽi was the first jurist to insist that Ḥadīth were the decisive source of law (over traditional doctrines of earlier thoughts).^[14] In order of priority, the sources of jurisprudence according to the Shafiʽi thought, are:^[4][15]

The Foundation (al asl)

• Qurʾān — the sacred scripture of Islam.^[9][4]
• Sunnah — defined by Al-Shāfiʿī as "the sayings, the acts, and the tacit acquiescence of Prophet Muhammad as related in solidly established traditions".^[9][15]

The school rejected dependence on local community practice as the source of legal precedent.^[7][16][9]

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."^[4][15]
  • Analogy by Cause (Qiyas al-Ma'na/Qiyas al-Illa)^[9]
  • Analogy by Resemblance (Qiyas al-Shabah)^[9]
• Ijmā' — consensus of scholars or of the community ("accepted but not stressed").^[7]

The concept of Istishab was first introduced by the later Shafiʽi scholars.^[11] Al-Shafiʽi also postulated that "penal sanctions lapse in cases where repentance precedes punishment".^[14]

Risālah

The groundwork legal text for the Shafiʽi law is al-Shafiʽi's al-Risala ("the Message"), composed in Egypt. It outlines the principles of Shafiʽi legal thought as well as the derived jurisprudence.^[17] A first version of the Risālah, al-Risalah al-Qadima, produced by al-Shafiʽi during his stay in Baghdad, is currently lost.^[9]

Proximity of Shia and Shafi'i

Shia jurists, based on the narrations of Fourteen Innocents, believe that "In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" is part of all the surahs of the Qur'an, except the Surah of Al-Bara'ah (Surah At-Tawbah). 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).^[18]

With Mālikī view

• Shafiʽi school argued that various existing local traditions may not reflect the practice of Muhammad (a critique to the Mālikī thought).^[9] The local traditions, according to the Shāfiʿī understanding, thus cannot be treated as sources of law.^[18]

With Ḥanafī view

• The Shafiʽi school rebuffed the Ahl al-Ra'y (personal opinion) and the Istiḥsān (juristic discretion).^[9] It insisted that the rules of the jurists could no longer be invoked in legal issues without additional authentications.^[18][19][20] 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^[18]).^[21][18]
• The Shafiʽi thinking believes that the methods may help to "substitute man for God and Prophet Muhammad, the only legitimate legislators"^[9] and "true knowledge and correct interpretation of religious obligations would suffer from arbitrary judgments infused with error".^{[22][23][24][25]}

History

Al-Shāfiʿī (c. 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.^[3][26][27]

• The Shafiʽi thoughts were initially spread by Al-Shafiʽi students in Cairo and Baghdad. By the 10th century, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and Syria also became chief centres of Shafiʽi ideas.^[11]
• The school later exclusively held the judgeships in Syria, Kirman, Bukhara and the Khorasan. It also flourished in northern Mesopotamia and in Daylam.^[11] The Ghurids also endorsed the Shafiʽis in the 11th and 12th centuries AD.^[11]
• Under Salah al-Din, the Shafiʽi school again became the paramount thought in Egypt (the region had come under Shi'a influence prior to this period).^[11] It was the "official school" of the Ayyubid dynasty and remained prominent during Mamlūk period also.^[14] Baybars, the Mamlūk sultan, later appointed judges from all four madhabs in Egypt.^[11]
• Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafiʽi Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far India and the Southeast Asia.^[12][13]

Under Ottomans and the Safavids

• Rise of the Ottomans in the 16th century resulted in the replacement of Shafiʽi judges by Ḥanafī scholars.^[25][11]
• After the beginning of the Safavid rule, the presence of the Shafi's in Iran was limited to the western regions of the country.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Distribution

The Shafiʽi school is presently predominant in the Indian Ocean and the Horn of Africa in the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia while forming a minority in the Swahili Coast.^[1][32] Within the Middle East, it is the majority school of the Kurdish Muslim population in the Levant and Iraq, as well as Lower Egypt and Yemen.^{[14][7][33][34]} The Shafi'i school is principal school of thought followed throughout Southeast Asia, in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.^{[2][35][32][36]} Shafi'is form a plurality in coastal southern Indian states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and are half of the Muslim population in Sri Lanka and the Maldives alongside Hanafis.^[2][35]

The Shafiʽi school is the third-largest school of Sunni madhhabs by number of adherents, after Hanafi and Maliki.^[2][35] The demographic data for Shafi'ism is considered to be more than 350 million.^[10] It is one of two dominant schools of thought practiced among Muslims in the United States other than Hanafi.^[37]

Notable Shafiʽis

Al-Muzani (c.791-878) Al-Buwayti Ar-Rabi‘ ibn Sulayman al-Muradi Al-Ghazali (c.1058-1111) Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (c.1230-1277) Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (c.1150-1209) Ibn al-Nafis (c.1213-1288) Ibn Kathir (c.1300-1373) Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam (c.1182-1262) Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (c.1228-1302) Al-Suyuti (c.1445-1505) In Hadith: Abu Zur'a al-Razi Abu Hatim al-Razi Ibn Khuzaymah Ibn Hibban Al-Khattabi Al-Daraqutni Hakim al-Nishaburi Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani Al-Bayhaqi (c.994-1066) Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi Al-Baghawi Ibn Asakir Ibn al-Salah Ibn al-Najjar Al-Nawawi Al-Mizzi Al-Dhahabi (c.1274-1348) Taqi al-Din al-Subki Ibn Kathir (c.1300-1373) Ibn al-Mulaqqin Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (c.1372-1449) Al-Sakhawi Al-Suyuti Al-Qastallani Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (c.1503-1566) Yasin al-Fadani In Tafsir: Al-Tabari (c.839-923) Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha'labi Al-Baghawi Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Ibn Kathir (c.1300-1373) Taqi al-Din al-Subki Al-Baydawi Al-Mahalli Al-Suyuti Said Nursî Hamka

In Fiqh: Al-Khattabi Al-Mawardi Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi Al-Juwayni Al-Ghazali Al-Baghawi Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam Ibn al-Salah Al-Nawawi Taqi al-Din al-Subki Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini Ibn al-Mulaqqin Al-Baydawi Al-Mahalli Zakariyya al-Ansari Al-Suyuti Ibn Hajar al-Haytami Sayf al-Din al-Amidi Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri Zainuddin Makhdoom I Ibn Nuhaas Abdallah al-Qutbi Taj al-Din al-Subki In Usul al-Fiqh: Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi Al-Juwayni Al-Ghazali Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam Taqi al-Din al-Subki Al-Mahalli Al-Suyuti Taj al-Din al-Subki In Arabic language studies: Ibn Malik Ibn Hisham Fairuzabadi Taqi al-Din al-Subki Al-Suyuti In Theology: Ibn Kullab Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari Ibn Furak Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi Al-Bayhaqi Al-Juwayni Al-Ghazali Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam Rashid Rida Taqi al-Din al-Subki

In Philosophy: Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad Fazlur Rahman Malik Khaled Abou El Fadl In Sufism Harith al-Muhasibi Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin Qushayri Abu Talib al-Makki Imam al-Haddad Ahmad Ghazali (c.1061-1123) Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi Yusuf Hamdani Ahmed ar-Rifa'i Najm al-Din Kubra Shams Tabrizi Safi-ad-din Ardabili Kamal Khujandi Yusuf an-Nabhani Abd Al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i Uways al-Barawi Sa'eed ibn Isa Al-Amoudi In history Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi Ibn 'Asakir Ali ibn al-Athir Ibn al-Najjar Ibn Khallikan Al-Dhahabi Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani Statesmen Saladin Nizam al-Mulk

Contemporary Shafiʽi scholars

From Middle East and North Africa:

• Ahmed Kuftaro
• Ali Gomaa
• Habib Umar bin Hafiz
• Habib Umar al-Jilani
• Sa'id Foudah
• Abdullah al-Harari
• Ali al-Jifri
• Mohammad Salim Al-Awa
• Wahba Zuhayli
• Taha Jabir Alalwani
• Taha Karaan

From Southeast Asia:

• Afifi al-Akiti
• Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif
• Hasyim Muzadi
• Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

From South Asia:

• Muhammad Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal
• Tajul Ulama
• K. Ali Kutty Musliyar
• Kanniyath Ahmed Musliyar
• E. K. Aboobacker Musliyar
• Zainuddin Makhdoom II
• Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad
• Cherussery Zainuddeen Musliyar
• Varakkal Mullakoya Thangal
• Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Shaliyathi

See also

• Sunni Islam
• The four Sunni Imams
• Hanafi
• Maliki
• Hanbali
• Shia Islam

References

Notes

1.^ "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."^[32]

Citations

1. Hallaq 2009, p. 31.
2. Saeed 2008, p. 17.
3. "Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 8 April 2024.
4. Ramadan 2006, pp. 27–77.
5. Kamali 2008, p. 77.
6. Shanay, Bulend. "Shafi'iyyah". University of Cumbria.
7. "Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
8. Hasyim 2005, pp. 75–77.
9. Chaumont, Éric (1997). "Al-Shafi". The Encyclopedia Of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. pp. 182–183.
10. "The Five Schools Of Islamic Thought". al-islam.org. 2024-11-16.
11. Heffening, W. (1934). "Al-Shafi'i". The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. E. J. Brill. pp. 252–53.
12. Christelow 2000, p. 377.
13. Pouwels 2002, p. 139.
14. Esposito, John L., ed. (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. pp. 285–86. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-0.
15. Al-Zarkashi 1393, p. 209.
16. Brown 2014, p. 39.
17. Khadduri 1961, pp. 14–22.
18. Chaumont, Éric (1997). "Al-Shafi'iyya". The Encyclopedia Of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. pp. 185–86.
19. Istislah The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
20. Istihsan The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
21. Ridgeon 2003, p. 259–262.
22. "Istiḥsān". Encyclopædia Britannica.
23. "Istislah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
24. "Istihsan". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014.
25. Hallaq 2009a, p. 58–71.
26. Haddad 2007, p. 121.
27. Dutton, p. 16.
28. Naghshbandi, Sayed Navid (2022-08-23). "The First Iranian Shafi'is and Their Role in the Propagation of the Shafi'i School During the Fourth Century AH in Iran". Iranian Journal for the History of Islamic Civilization. 55 (1): 119–146. doi:10.22059/jhic.2022.335807.654309. ISSN 2228-7906.
29. "Iran". United States Department of State.
30. "The arrival of Seljuks at Khorasan and the sufferings of Nishapurian Shafi'is -Ash'aris".
31. Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. pg. 440.
32. "International Religious Freedom Report: Comoros" (PDF). United States Department of State. 2013.
33. "Ahmady, Kameel. Investigation of the Ethnic Identity Challenge in Iran- A Peace-Oriented, EFFLATOUNIA - Multidisciplinary Journal, Vol. 5 No. 2 (2021) pp. 3242-70". EFFLATOUNIA - Multidisciplinary Journal.
34. "Religious Governance in Syria Amid Territorial Fragmentation".
35. "Islamic Jurisprudence & Law". University of North Carolina.
36. Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. p 440.
37. Hammond, Joseph (3 August 2021). "Study finds the American mosque increasingly a melting pot of Islamic traditions". Religion News Service.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Al-Zarkashi, Badr al-Din (1393). Al-Bahr Al-Muhit Vol VI.
• Khadduri, Majid (1961). 'Islamic Jurisprudence: Shafiʽi's Risala. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Al-Shafiʽi: The Epistle on Legal Theory - Risalah fi usul al-fiqh. Translated by Lowry, Joseph. New York University Press. 2013. ISBN 978-0814769980.

Scholarly sources

• Hallaq, Wael B. (2009). An Introduction to Islamic Law. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521678735.
• Saeed, Abdullah (2008). The Qur'an: An Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415421256.
• Ramadan, Hisham M. (2006). Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary. Rowman Altamira. ISBN 978-0-7591-0991-9.
• Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2008). Shari'ah Law: An Introduction. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1851685653.
• Hasyim, Syafiq (2005). Understanding Women in Islam: An Indonesian Perspective. Equinox. ISBN 978-9793780191.
• Hallaq, Wael B. (2009a). Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521861472.
• Brown, Jonathan A. C. (2014). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1780744209.
• Ridgeon, Lloyd (2003). Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415297967.
• Dutton, Yasin. The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qurʼan, the Muwaṭṭaʼ and Madinan ʻAmal.
• Haddad, Gibril F. (2007). The Four Imams and Their Schools. Muslim Academic Trust, London.
• Pouwels, Randall L. (2002). Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521523097.
• Christelow, Allan (2000). Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall (eds.). "Islamic Law in Africa," in The History of Islam in Africa. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0821412978.

Further reading

• Al-Shāfiʿī, Muḥammad ibn Idrīs; Lowry, Joseph E. (2013). The Epistle on Legal Theory: A Translation of Al-Shafi'i's Risalah. Translated by Lowry, Joseph E. New York University Press. ISBN 9781479855445. JSTOR j.ctt17mvkhj.
• Cilardo, Agostino (2014). "Shafiʽi Fiqh". In Fitzpatrick, Coeli; Walker, Adam Hani (eds.). Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God. ABC-CLIO.
• Yahia, Mohyddin (2009). Shafiʽi 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: Shafiʽi'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-Shafiʽi, 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

• Shafi'iyyah (University of Cumbria)
• The Shafi’i School: History, Scholars, and Key Books

[https://archive.org/details/Salah_Guide Al Falah (A concise guide to Arkan ul Iman and Arkan ul Islam as pdf)]