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ImamAl-Shafi'i
ٱلشَّافِعِيّ
Title	Shaykh al-Islam Offspring of the House of the Prophet Peerless One Scrupulously Pious Ascetic Friend of God
Personal life
Born	767 CE (150 AH) Gaza, Palestine, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	820 CE (204 AH; aged 53–54) Fustat, Egypt, Abbasid Caliphate
Era	Islamic Golden Age (early Abbasid)
Main interest(s)	Jurisprudence hadith theology asceticism
Notable idea(s)	Shafi'i school Principles of Islamic jurisprudence
Notable work(s)	Al-Risala Al-Umm Al-Musnad
Occupation	Scholar jurist traditionist theologian
Religious life
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Independent (eponym of the Shafi'i school)
Muslim leader
Influenced by Abu Hanifa Ja'far al-Sadiq Muhammad al-Shaybani Malik ibn Anas Sufyan ibn Uyayna al-Layth ibn Sa'd al-Sayyida Nafisa
Influenced All subsequent Sunni Scholars
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)	Muḥammad مُحَمَّد
Patronymic (Nasab)	Ibn Idrīs ibn al-ʿAbbās ٱبْن إِدْرِيس بْن ٱلْعَبَّاس
Teknonymic (Kunya)	Abū ʿAbd Allāh أَبُو عَبْد ٱللَّٰه
Toponymic (Nisba)	Al-Shāfiʿī al-Ḥijāzī al-Qurashī al-Hāshimī al-Muṭṭalibī ٱلشَّافِعِيّ ٱلْحِجَازِيّ ٱلْقُرَشِيّ ٱلْهَاشِمِيّ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِيّ

Al-Shafi'i (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-Shāfiʿī; IPA: [a(l) ʃaːfiʕiː] ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, having authored one of the earliest work on the subject: al-Risala. His legacy and teaching on the matter provided it with a systematic form, thereby "fundamentally influenc the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact," and "begin a new phase of the development of legal theory."

Being born in Gaza, Palestine to the Banu Muttalib clan of the Quraysh tribe, he was relocated at the age of two and raised in Mecca. He later resided in Medina, Yemen, Baghdad in Iraq, and Egypt, and also served as a judge for some time in Najran.

Introduction

The biography of al-Shafi'i is difficult to trace. It was said Dawud al-Zahiri (d. 884 CE) was the first to write one, but the work has been lost. The oldest surviving biography goes back to Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (d. 938/939 CE), but is only a collection of anecdotes, some of them fantastical. Similarly, a biographical sketch written by Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Saji was later reproduced, but even then, a great deal of legend had already crept into the story of al-Shafi'i's life. The first real biography was written by al-Bayhaqi (d. 1065/1066 CE), but is filled with what a modernist eye would qualify as pious legends. The following is what seems to be a sensible reading, according to a modern reductionist perspective.

Biography

Ancestry

Al-Shafi'i belonged to the Qurayshi clan of Banu Muttalib, which was the sister clan of the Banu Hashim, to which Muhammad and the Abbasid caliphs belonged. This lineage may have given him prestige, arising from his belonging to the tribe of Muhammad, and his great-grandfather's kinship to him. However, he grew up in poverty, in spite of his connections to the highest social circles.

Early life

Born near the town of Ashkelon in 767/768 CE/150 AH. His father died in Sham while he was still a child. Fearing the waste of his sharif lineage, his mother decided to move to Mecca when he was about two years old. Furthermore, his maternal family roots were from Yemen, and there were more members of his family in Mecca, where his mother believed he would better be taken care of. Little is known about al-Shafi'i's early life in Mecca, except that he was brought up in poor circumstances and that from his youth he was devoted to learning. An account states that his mother could not afford to buy his paper, so he would write his lessons on bones, particularly shoulder-bones. He studied under Muslim ibn Khalid al-Zanji, the then-judge of Mecca, who is thus considered to be his first teacher. By the age of seven, al-Shafi'i had memorised the Quran. At ten, he had committed Malik ibn Anas's Muwatta to heart, at which time his teacher would deputise him to teach in his absence. Al-Shafi'i was authorised to issue rulings at the age of fifteen.

Apprenticeship under Malik ibn Anas

Al-Shafi'i moved to Medina in desire for further legal training, as was the tradition of acquiring knowledge. Accounts differ on the age in which he set out to Medina; an account placed his age at thirteen, while another stated that he was in his twenties. There, he was taught for many years by the famous Malik ibn Anas, who was impressed with his memory, knowledge, and intelligence. By the time of Malik's death in 179 AH (795 CE), al-Shafi'i had already gained a reputation as a brilliant jurist. Even though he would later disagree with some of the views of Malik, al-Shafi'i accorded the deepest respect to him by always referring to him as the "Teacher".

Yemeni Fitnah

At the age of thirty, al-Shafi'i was appointed as the Abbasid governor in the Yemeni city of Najran. He proved to be a just administrator but soon became entangled with factional jealousies. In 803 CE, al-Shafi'i was accused of aiding the Alids in a revolt, and was thus summoned in chains with a number of Alids to the caliph Harun al-Rashid at Raqqa. Whilst other conspirators were put to death, al-Shafi'i's own eloquent defence convinced the caliph to dismiss the charge. Other accounts state that the famous Hanafi jurist, Muhammad al-Shaybani, was present at the court and defended al-Shafi'i as a well-known student of the sacred law. What was certain was that the incident brought al-Shafi'i in close contact with al-Shaybani, who would soon become his teacher. It was also postulated that this incident impelled him to devote the rest of his career to legal studies, never again to seek government service.

Apprenticeship under al-Shaybani, and exposure to Hanafi jurists

Al-Shafi'i traveled to Baghdad to study with Abu Hanifah's acolyte al-Shaybani and others. It was here that he developed his first school, influenced by the teachings of both Abu Hanifah and Malik. His work thus became known as "al-madhhab al-qadim li-l-imam al-shafi'i", or the "old school of al-Shafi'i".

It was here that al-Shafi'i actively participated in legal arguments with the Hanafi jurists, strenuously defending the Maliki school of thought. Some authorities stress the difficulties encountered by him in his arguments. Al-Shafi'i eventually left Baghdad for Mecca in 804 CE, possibly because of complaints by Hanafi followers to al-Shaybani that al-Shafi'i had become somewhat critical of al-Shaybani's position during their disputes. As a result, al-Shafi'i reportedly participated in a debate with al-Shaybani over their differences, though who won the debate is disputed.

In Mecca, al-Shafi'i began to lecture at the Sacred Mosque, leaving a deep impression on many students of jurisprudence, including the founder of the Hanbali school, Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Al-Shafi'i's legal reasoning began to mature, as he started to appreciate the strength in the legal reasoning of the Hanafi jurists, and became aware of the weaknesses inherent in both the Maliki and Hanafi schools of thought.

Departure to Baghdad and Egypt

Al-Shafi'i eventually returned to Baghdad in 810 CE. By this time, his stature as a jurist had grown sufficiently to permit him to establish an independent line of legal speculation. The caliph al-Ma'mun is said to have offered al-Shafi'i a position as a judge, but he declined the offer.

Connection with the family of Muhammad

In 814 CE, al-Shafi'i decided to leave Baghdad for Egypt. The precise reasons for his departure from Iraq are uncertain, but it was in Egypt that he would meet another tutor, al-Sayyidah Nafisah, who would also financially support his studies, and where he would dictate his life's works to students. Several of his leading disciples would write down what al-Shafi'i said, who would then have them read it back aloud so that corrections could be made. Al-Shafi'i biographers all agree the legacy of works under his name are the result of those sessions with his disciples.

Through Muhammad's grandson Hasan ibn Ali, Nafisah was a descendant of Muhammad, and she married another descendant of Muhammad, Ishaq al-Mu'tamin. Ishaq was the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq, a teacher of al-Shafi'i's teachers Malik ibn Anas, as well as Abu Hanifah. Thus, all of the four major imams of Sunni jurisprudence—Abu Hanifah, Malik, his student al-Shafi'i, and his student Ahmad—are connected to Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was from the household of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly.

Death

At least one authority states that al-Shafi'i died as a result of injuries sustained from an attack by supporters of a Maliki follower named Fityan. The story goes that al-Shafi'i triumphed in the argument over Fityan, who, being intemperate, resorted to abuse. The then-governor of Egypt, with whom al-Shafi'i had good relations, ordered Fityan punished by having him paraded through the streets of the city carrying a plank and stating the reason for his punishment. Fityan's supporters were enraged by this treatment and attacked al-Shafi'i in retaliation after one of his lectures, causing him to die a few days later. However, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani casts doubt on this story, claiming it is not "from a reliable source". Al-Shafi'i was also known to have suffered from a painful intestinal illness and hemorrhoids, which kept him frail and ailing during the later years of his life. Thus, the precise cause of his death is unknown.

Al-Shafi'i died at the age of 54 on 20 January 820 CE/30 Rajab 204 AH, in al-Fustat, Egypt. He was buried in the vault of the Banu Abd al-Hakam, near Mokattam. The dome was built in 1212 CE/608 AH by the Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil. Al-Shafi'i's mausoleum remains an important site today.

Legacy

The Shafi'i school, one of the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence, known as madhhabs, is named for Al-Shāfi'ī, who is also credited setting up the framework of Islamic jurisprudence by establishing the relative importance order of its different sources as follows:

1. The Qur'an;
2. Hadith. i.e. collections of the words, actions, and silent approval of Muhammad. (Together with the Qur'an these make up "revealed sources");
3. Ijma. i.e. the consensus of the (pure traditional) Muslim community;
4. Qiyas. i.e. the method of analogy.

Scholar John Burton goes farther, crediting Al-Shafi'i not just with establishing the science of fiqh in Islam, but its importance to the religion. "Where his contemporaries and their predecessors had engaged in defining Islam as a social and historical phenomenon, Shafi'i sought to define a revealed Law."

Al-Shāfi‘ī emphasised the final authority of a hadith of Muhammad so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of traditions (i.e. hadith), and not vice versa." While traditionally the Quran is considered above the Sunna in authority, Al-Shafi'i "forcefully argued" that the sunna stands "on equal footing with the Quran", (according to scholar Daniel Brown) for – as Al-Shafi'i put it – "the command of the Prophet is the command of Almighty Allah."

The focus by the Muslim community on ahadith of Muhammad and disinterest in ahadith of Muhammad's companions (whose ahadith were commonly used before Al-Shāfi‘ī since most of whom survived him and spread his teachings after his death) is thought (by scholar Joseph Schacht) to reflect the success of Al-Shāfi‘ī's doctrine.

Al-Shāfi‘ī influence was such that he changed the use of the term Sunnah, "until it invariably meant only the Sunnah of the Prophet" (according to John Burton this was his "principle achievement"). While earlier, sunnah had been used to refer to tribal manners and customs, (and while Al-Shāfi‘ī distinguished between the non-authoritative "sunnah of the Muslims" that was followed in practice, and the "sunnah of the Prophet" that Muslims should follow), sunnah came to mean the Sunnah of Muhammad.

In the Islamic sciences, Burton credits him with "the imposition of a formal theoretical distinction" between ‘the Sunnah of the Prophet’ and the Quran, "especially where the two fundamental sources appeared to clash".

Mu'tazalites

Al-Shafi'i was part of those early traditionalist theologians who strongly opposed i'tizal and criticised the speculative theologians for abandoning the Qur'an and sunna through their adoption of Greek philosophy in metaphysics.

Structures

Saladin built a madrasa and a shrine on the site of his tomb. Saladin's brother Afdal built a mausoleum for him in 1211 after the defeat of the Fatimids. It remains a site where people petition for justice.

Followers

Among the followers of Imam al-Shāfi‘ī's school were:

• Bayhaqi
• Al-Suyuti
• Al-Dhahabi
• Al-Ghazali
• Ibn Hajar Asqalani
• Ibn Kathir
• Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi
• Al-Mawardi
• Al Muzani

Works

He authored more than 100 books, but few survived to this day. The extant works of his which are accessible today are:

• Al-Risala – The best-known book by al-Shafi'i in which he examined principles of jurisprudence. The book has been translated into English.
• Kitab al-Umm – his main surviving text on Shafi'i fiqh
• Musnad al-Shafi'i (on hadith) – it is available with arrangement, Arabic 'Tartib', by Ahmad ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Banna
• Ikhtilaf al-Hadith
• Al-Sunan al-Ma’thour
• Jima’ al-’Ilm

In addition to this, al-Shafi'i was an eloquent poet, who composed many short poems aimed at addressing morals and behaviour. The most famous of which is his Al-Diwan.

Anecdotal stories

Ahmad ibn Hanbal considered al-Shafi'i to be the "imam most faithful to tradition" who led the people of tradition to victory against the exponents of ra'y. In the words of Ibn Hanbal, "at no time was there anyone of importance in learning who erred less, and who followed more closely the sunnah of the Prophet than al-Shafi'i." Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, an 18th century Sunni Islamic scholar stated: "A mujaddid appears at the end of every century: the mujaddid of the 1st century was the imam of ahl al-sunna, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz; the mujaddid of the 2nd century was Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i; the mujaddid of the 3rd century was Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari; the mujaddid of the 4th century was al-Hakim al-Nishapuri."

Quotations

• He who seeks pearls immerses himself in the sea.
• He said to the effect that no knowledge of Islam can be gained from books of kalam, as it "is not from knowledge" and that "it is better for a man to spend his whole life doing whatever Allah has prohibited—besides shirk with Allah—rather than spending his whole life involved in kalam."
• If a hadith is authenticated as coming from the Prophet, we have to resign ourselves to it, and your talk and the talk of others about why and how, is a mistake.

Islamic scholars

See also

• Fiqh
• Mujaddid
• Shafi'i
• Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i

Footnotes

1. Full name Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Shāfiʿī al-Ḥijāzī al-Qurashī al-Hāshimī al-Muṭṭalibī (Arabic: أَبُو عَبْد ٱللَّٰه مُحَمَّد بْن إِدْرِيس بْن ٱلْعَبَّاس ٱلشَّافِعِيّ ٱلْحِجَازِيّ ٱلْقُرَشِيّ ٱلْهَاشِمِيّ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِيّ); he is also known by the titles Shaykh al-Islam, Offspring of the House of the Prophet, Peerless One, Scrupulously Pious Ascetic, and Friend of God.
2. Siyar A'lam Nubala recorded the words of al-Shafi'i as following: Do not be preoccupied with Kalam, since I (have) learned that the Kalam scholars inclined to Ta'thil(rejection of Names of God in Islam) [sic]

References

Citations

1. ^ "Short biography of Imam Al-Shafi'ee". www.islamicfinder.org. IslamicFinder. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
2. ^ Haddad, G. F. "Imam Shafi'i". spa.qibla.com. As-Sunnah Foundation of America. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
3. ^ "Imam Ja'afar as Sadiq". History of Islam. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
4. ^ Dutton, Yasin, The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qurʼan, the Muwaṭṭaʼ and Madinan ʻAmal, p. 16
5. ^ "Nafisa at-Tahira". www.sunnah.org. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
6. ^ Zayn Kassam; Bridget Blomfield (2015), "Remembering Fatima and Zaynab: Gender in Perspective", in Farhad Daftory (ed.), The Shi'i World, I.B Tauris Press
7. ^ Aliyah, Zainab (2 February 2015). "Great Women in Islamic History: A Forgotten Legacy". Young Muslim Digest. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
8. Hasan, Ahmad (September 1966). "AL-S̱H̱ĀFI'Ī'S ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE". Islamic Studies. 5 (3). Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University: 270. JSTOR 20832846. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
9. Hasan, Ahmad (September 1966). "AL-S̱H̱ĀFI'Ī'S ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE". Islamic Studies. 5 (3). Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University: 239–273. JSTOR 20832846. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
10. Day, Stephen W. (25 June 2012). Regionalism and Rebellion in Yemen: A Troubled National Union. Cambridge University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-107-02215-7.
11. Islam, M. R.; Zatzman, Gary M.; Islam, Jaan S. (13 November 2013). Reconstituting the Curriculum. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-86790-7.
12. Al-Nawawi. Tahdhib al-Asma' wa-l-Lughat. Vol. 1. p. 82.
13. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Tawalli al-Ta'sis li-Ma'ali Muhammad ibn Idris. Vol. 1. p. 26.
14. Ibn Asakir. Tarikh Dimashq.
15. ^ Khadduri, Majid (2011). Al-Shāfi'i's Risāla: Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence. Islamic Texts Society. pp. 8, 11–16. ISBN 978-0946621-15-6.
16. ^ Haddad, Gibril Fouad (2007). The Four Imams and Their Schools. United Kingdom: Muslim Academic Trust. pp. 189, 190, 193. ISBN 978-1-902350-09-7.
17. ^ Ibn Abi Hatim, Manaaqibush-Shaafi'ee, pg. 39
18. Ibn Kathir, Tabaqat Ash-Shafi'iyyin, Vol 1. Page 27 Dār Al-Wafa’
19. Ibn Abī Hātim. Manāqib al-Shāfi'ī wa-Ābāduh. Dar Al Kotob Al-Ilmiyyah. p. 39.
20. ^ A.C. Brown, Jonathan (2014). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. p. 35. ISBN 978-1780744209.
21. "The Biography of Imam Ash Shafii | Shafii Fiqh.com | Shafii Institute". Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
22. Haddad, Gibril F. (2007). The Four Imams and Their Schools. London, the U.K.: Muslim Academic Trust. pp. 121–194.
23. Khadduri, pp. 15–16 (Translator's Introduction). Khadduri cites for this story Yaqut's Mu‘jam al-Udabā, vol. VI pp. 394–95 (ed. Margoliouth, London: 1931), and Ibn Hajar's Tawālī al-Ta'sīs, p. 86.
24. Ibn Hajar's Tawālī al-Ta'sīs, p.185 DKi 1986 edition
25. Ibn Hajar's Tawālī al-Ta'sīs, p.177 DKi 1986 edition
26. Khadduri, p. 16 (Translator's Introduction).
27. "Archnet". Archived from the original on 15 December 2013.
28. "Tour Egypt :: The Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi".
29. Schacht, Joseph (1959) . The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press. p. 1.
30. Snouck Hurgronje, C. Verspreide Geschriften. v.ii. 1923-7, page 286-315
31. Étude sur la théorie du droit musulman (Paris : Marchal et Billard, 1892–1898.)
32. Margoliouth, D.S., The Early Development of Mohammedanism, 1914, page 65ff
33. Schacht, Joseph in Encyclopedia of Islam, 1913 v.IV, sv Usul
34. ^ Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.14
35. J. SCHACHT, An Introduction to Islamic Law (1964), supra note 5, at 47
36. Forte, David F. (1978). "Islamic Law; the impact of Joseph Schacht" (PDF). Loyola Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review. 1: 13. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
37. al-Shafii ‘’Kitab al-Risala’’, ed. Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1940), 84
38. Brown, Daniel W. (1996). Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 0521570778. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
39. Schacht, Joseph (1959) . The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press. p. 4.
40. ^ Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.15
41. Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.12
42. Abrahamov, Binyamin (1998). "Chapter 3: Traditionalism Against Rationalism- The Traditionalists' Criticism of the use of Rational Methods". Islamic Theology: Traditionalism and Rationalism. George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-7486-1102-9. Al-Shafi'ī's attitude towards the Mutazilites was no less severe. His judgement of them is that they should be smitten with palm branches and shoes in the presence of many people and then it will be said: this is the punishment of those who abandoned the Qur'an and the Sunna and turned to the Greeks.
43. Ruthven Malise, Islam in the World. 3rd edition Granta Books London 2006 ch. 4, page 122
44. The Levels of the Shafiee scholars by Imam As-Subki طبقات الشافعية للسبكي
45. Nahyan Fancy, Science and Religion in Mamluk Egypt (2013, ISBN 1136703616), page 23: "... highlighted by the latter-day Shafi'i authority, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti."
46. Scott C. Lucas, Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunni Islam (2004, ISBN 9004133194), page 72: "It is somewhat astonishing that al-Dhahabi, a purported adherent to the Shafi'i madhhab, does not honor al-Shafi'i with the sobriquet Shayk al-Islam." (Emphasis added.)
47. David Waines, An Introduction to Islam, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 68
48. ^ Glodziher, Dr. Ignaz (2008). "Chapter 3". The Zahiris, Their Doctrine and their History: A Contribution to the History of Islamic Theology. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 978-90-04-16241 9.
49. Izalat al-Khafa p. 77 part 7
50. Diwan al-Imam al-shafi'i, (book of poems – al-shafi'i) p. 100; Dar El-Mrefah Beirut – Lebanon 2005. ISBN 9953-429-33-2
51. Dhammul-Kalaam (Q/213)
52. Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' (10/30)
53. Jalal al-Din Abdul Rahman bin Abi Bakr (January 2007). Farid Al-Mazidi, Ahmad (ed.). صون المنطق والكلام عن فن المنطق والكلام ويليه جهد القريحة (in Arabic). Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyah. p. 60. ISBN 978-2-7451-5236-7. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
54. Yulian Purnama (2021). "Imam Asy Syafi'i dan Ilmu Filsafat" [Imam Ash Shafi'i and Philosophy]. Muslim (in Indonesian). Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Yayasan Pendidikan Islam Al Atsari: YPIA /Al Atsari Islamic Education Foundation. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
55. Schacht, Joseph (1959) . The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press. p. 13.

Bibliography

• Burton, John (1990). The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation (PDF). Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0108-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
• Ruthven Malise, Islam in the World. 3rd edition Granta Books London 2006 ch. 4
• Majid Khadduri (trans.), "al-Shafi'i's Risala: Treatise on the Foundation of Islamic Jurisprudence". Islamic Texts Society 1961, reprinted 1997. ISBN 0-946621-15-2.
• al-Shafi'i, Muhammad b. Idris,"The Book of the Amalgamation of Knowledge" translated by Aisha Y. Musa in Hadith as Scripture: Discussions on The Authority Of Prophetic Traditions in Islam, New York: Palgrave, 2008

Helal M Abu Taher, Char Imam(Four Imams), Islamic Foundation, Dhaka,1980.

External links

• Biodata at MuslimScholars.info
• The Biography of Imam ash-Shafi'i

• The Life of Imam al-Shafi'i at Lost Islamic History
• Short Biography of Imam Shafi'i
• Concise Summary of Imam Shafi'i
• Diagram of teachers and students of Imam Shafi'i
• The Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i

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