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Shafi'i school

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The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Mazhab (Arabic: ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-madhhab al-shāfiʿī) is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam.[1][2] It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al-Shafi'i (c. 767–820 CE), "the father of Muslim jurisprudence",[3] in the early 9th century.[4][5][3]

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 Shafiʽi school was widely followed in the Middle East until the rise of the Ottomans and the Safavids.[6][10] Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafiʽi Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far as India and Southeast Asia.[11][12] The Shafiʽi school is now predominantly found in parts of the Hejaz and the Levant, Lower Egypt, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and among the Kurdish people, 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).[13][14][1][15]

One who ascribes to the Shafi'i school is called a Shafi'i, Shafi'ite or Shafi'ist (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-shāfiʿī, pl. ٱلشَّافِعِيَّة, al-shāfiʿiyya or ٱلشَّوَافِع, al-shawāfiʿ).

Principles

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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]

As-Shafiʽi was the first jurist to insist that Ḥadīth were the decisive source of law (over traditional doctrines of earlier thoughts).[16] In order of priority, the sources of jurisprudence according to the Shafiʽi thought, are:[4][17]

The Foundation (al asl)

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The school rejected dependence on local community practice as the source of legal precedent.[7][18][9]

Ma'qul al-asl

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  • 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][17]
    • 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.[10] Al-Shafiʽi also postulated that "penal sanctions lapse in cases where repentance precedes punishment".[16]

Views on FGM

The school does not differentiate male and female circumcision and considers female circumcision (Female Genital Mutilation) alongside male circumcision to be wajib (obligatory). This makes it unique among the four primary Sunni schools of Jurisprudence as the only one to fully require FGM.[19]

Risālah

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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.[20] 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

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The early scholars of Shi’i origin shared the same theological views as those of Sunni origin but differed only in their political views.

Here are some key similarities between Shia and Sunni Islam:

Core Beliefs: Both Shia and Sunni Muslims share the fundamental beliefs of Islam, including the belief in one God (Allah), the prophethood of Muhammad, and the importance of the Quran as the holy book.

Five Pillars of Islam: Both sects practice the Five Pillars of Islam, which include: Shahada: The declaration of faith. Salat: Performing the five daily prayers. Zakat: Giving alms to the poor. Sawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan. Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca, if financially and physically possible.

Quran: Both Shia and Sunni Muslims regard the Quran as the ultimate source of guidance and consider it to be the literal word of God. Prophet Muhammad (S): Both sects hold Prophet Muhammad in the highest regard and follow his teachings and practices (Sunnah). Ethical and Moral Values: Both Shia and Sunni Muslims emphasize similar ethical and moral values, such as honesty, charity, justice, and compassion.

Festivals: Both celebrate major Islamic festivals like Eid al-Fitr (marking the end of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (commemorating the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son). While there are differences in leadership and certain practices, these core similarities highlight the shared foundation of faith and practice in Islam.

"Shafi'i" jurists, 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 At-Tawba. And "Shiia" jurists, agree with the Shafi'i opinion.

Differences from Mālikī and Ḥanafī thoughts

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Al-Shāfiʿī fundamentally criticised the concept of judicial conformism (the Istiḥsan).[21]

With Mālikī view

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  • 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.[21]

With Ḥanafī view

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  • 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.[21][22][23] 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[21]).[24][21]
  • 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".[25][26][27][28]

History

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Shafiʽi school is predominantly found across the Indian Ocean littoral.

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][29][30]

  • 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.[10]
  • The school later exclusively held the judgeships in Syria, Kirman, Bukhara and the Khorasan. It also flourished in northern Mesopotamia and in Daylam.[10] The Ghurids also endorsed the Shafiʽis in the 11th and 12th centuries AD.[10]
  • 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).[10] It was the "official school" of the Ayyubid dynasty and remained prominent during Mamlūk period also.[16] Baybars, the Mamlūk sultan, later appointed judges from all four madhabs in Egypt.[10]
  • Traders and merchants helped to spread Shafiʽi Islam across the Indian Ocean, as far India and the Southeast Asia.[11][12]

Under Ottomans and the Safavids

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  • Rise of the Ottomans in the 16th century resulted in the replacement of Shafiʽi judges by Ḥanafī scholars.[28][10]
  • Under the Safavids, Shafiʽi preeminence in Central Asia was replaced by Shi'a Islam.[10]
  • After the beginning of the Safavid rule, the presence of the Shafi's in Iran was limited to the western regions of the country.[31][32][33][34]

Distribution

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An approximate map showing the distribution of the Shafiʽi school (azure blue)

The Shafiʽi school is presently predominant in the following parts of the world:[13]

The Shafiʽi school is one of the largest school of Sunni madhhabs by number of adherents.[2][13] The demographic data by each fiqh, for each nation, is unavailable and the relative demographic size are estimates.

Notable Shafiʽis

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Contemporary Shafiʽi scholars

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From Middle East and North Africa:

From Southeast Asia:

From South Asia:

See also

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References

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Notes

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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."[14]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Hallaq 2009, p. 31.
  2. ^ a b c Saeed 2008, p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c "Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 8 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ramadan 2006, pp. 27–77.
  5. ^ Kamali 2008, p. 77.
  6. ^ a b Shanay, Bulend. "Shafi'iyyah". University of Cumbria.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  8. ^ Hasyim 2005, pp. 75–77.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chaumont, Éric (1997). "Al-Shafi". The Encyclopedia Of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. pp. 182–183.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heffening, W. (1934). "Al-Shafi'i". The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV. E. J. Brill. pp. 252–53.
  11. ^ a b Christelow 2000, p. 377.
  12. ^ a b Pouwels 2002, p. 139.
  13. ^ a b c "Islamic Jurisprudence & Law". University of North Carolina.
  14. ^ a b c "International Religious Freedom Report: Comoros" (PDF). United States Department of State. 2013.
  15. ^ Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. p 440.
  16. ^ a b c d Esposito, John L., ed. (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. pp. 285–86. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-0.
  17. ^ a b c Al-Zarkashi 1393, p. 209.
  18. ^ Brown 2014, p. 39.
  19. ^ "Religious views on female genital mutilation", Wikipedia, 2024-10-28, retrieved 2024-11-13
  20. ^ Khadduri 1961, pp. 14–22.
  21. ^ a b c d e Chaumont, Éric (1997). "Al-Shafi'iyya". The Encyclopedia Of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. pp. 185–86.
  22. ^ Istislah The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
  23. ^ Istihsan The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
  24. ^ Ridgeon 2003, p. 259–262.
  25. ^ "Istiḥsān". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  26. ^ "Istislah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Istihsan". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014.
  28. ^ a b Hallaq 2009a, p. 58–71.
  29. ^ Haddad 2007, p. 121.
  30. ^ Dutton, p. 16.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ "Iran". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  33. ^ "The arrival of Seljuks at Khorasan and the sufferings of Nishapurian Shafi'is -Ash'aris".
  34. ^ Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. pg. 440.
  35. ^ "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.
  36. ^ "Religious Governance in Syria Amid Territorial Fragmentation".

Bibliography

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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

Further reading

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

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