Shafi'i school

The Shafi'i school or Shafi'ism (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 and Yemen, and among the Kurdish people, in the North Caucasus and 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

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)

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]^[17]

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

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.^[19] 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

In several jurisprudential and theological principles, the Shafi'i Sunni school of thought is much closer to the Mu'tazila and Twelve Imam Shiites than the other three Sunni schools. ^[20] In the Shafi'i religion, like Shia, they honor the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet of Islam and emphasize their infallibility.

Shia jurists, based on the narrations of Twelve Imam, 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.

The Imami Shiites consider saying "assalah khair min al-Nawm" which Umar in the morning call to prayer is a heresy and have criticized Umar bin Khattab for this. Shafi'i is also a Shiite in some of his fatwas. And saying this part in the call to prayer is considered heresy. ^[21]

The majority of Shafi'i jurists consider the time of the first noon prayer to be a "virtuous time" and the rest as an optional time, and the addition of the two noon and evening prayers without excuse is permissible according to the Shafi'i jurists of the religion. ^[22]

Differences from Mālikī and Ḥanafī thoughts

Al-Shāfiʿī fundamentally criticised the concept of judicial conformism (the Istiḥsan).^[23]

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.^[23]

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.^[23]^[24]^[25] 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^[23]).^[26]^[23]
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".^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]

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]^[31]^[32]

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

Rise of the Ottomans in the 16th century resulted in the replacement of Shafiʽi judges by Ḥanafī scholars.^[30]^[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.^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]

Distribution

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

Middle East and North Africa: Parts of Hejaz, the Levant (Palestine, Jordan and a significant number in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq), Lower Egypt, among Sunnis in Iran and Yemen, and the Kurdish people.^[16]^[7]^[37]^[38]
Eurasia: Northern regions of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Chechen and Ingush regions of the North Caucasus.
On the Indian Ocean
- Africa: Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Swahili Coast (Kenya and Tanzania).^[14]^[2]
- South Asia: Maldives, Sri Lanka and southern India (Kerala, southern Tamil Nadu, western Karnataka).
- Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, and the southern Philippines.

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

Contemporary Shafiʽi scholars

From Middle East and North Africa:

From Southeast Asia:

From South Asia:

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."^[14]

Citations

^ a b Hallaq 2009, p. 31.
^ a b c Saeed 2008, p. 17.
^ a b c "Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 8 April 2024.
^ a b c d e Ramadan 2006, pp. 27–77.
^ Kamali 2008, p. 77.
^ a b Shanay, Bulend. "Shafi'iyyah". University of Cumbria.
^ a b c d e f g "Shāfiʿī". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
^ Hasyim 2005, pp. 75–77.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ a b Christelow 2000, p. 377.
^ a b Pouwels 2002, p. 139.
^ a b c "Islamic Jurisprudence & Law". University of North Carolina.
^ a b c "International Religious Freedom Report: Comoros" (PDF). United States Department of State. 2013.
^ Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. p 440.
^ 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.
^ a b c Al-Zarkashi 1393, p. 209.
^ Brown 2014, p. 39.
^ Khadduri 1961, pp. 14–22.
^ In one of his poems, Shafi'i wrote about the love of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, who during the time of the Caliph and some of the Sunnis accused him of being Shia. Qom, 2nd edition 74.
^ Shokani, Nile al-Awtar, Cairo, vol. 2, p. 38, quoted from the same.
^ Ibn Rushd, Al-Mujtahid , Beirut, Dar al-Marafa, 1409, vol. 1, p. 173.
^ a b c d e Chaumont, Éric (1997). "Al-Shafi'iyya". The Encyclopedia Of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. pp. 185–86.
^ Istislah The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
^ Istihsan The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press
^ Ridgeon 2003, p. 259–262.
^ "Istiḥsān". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ "Istislah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
^ "Istihsan". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014.
^ a b Hallaq 2009a, p. 58–71.
^ Haddad 2007, p. 121.
^ Dutton, p. 16.
^ 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.
^ "Iran". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
^ "The arrival of Seljuks at Khorasan and the sufferings of Nishapurian Shafi'is -Ash'aris".
^ Ahmady, Kameel 2019: From Border to Border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran. Mehri publication, London. pg. 440.
^ "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.
^ "Religious Governance in Syria Amid Territorial Fragmentation".

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.
Zayn Kassam; Bridget Blomfield (2015). "Remembering Fatima and Zaynab: Gender in Perspective". In Farhad Daftory (ed.). The Shi'i World. I. B. Tauris Press.

External links

Shafi'iyyah (University of Cumbria)