Al-Shafi'i

Al-Shafi'i (Arabic: الشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-Shāfiʿī; IPA: [a(l) ʃaːfiʕiː] ; 767–820 CE; d. AH 204) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, and ascetic, and the founder and eponym of the Shāfiʿī school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He played a formative role in the systematization of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh) and is regarded as its founder. His al-Risāla was among the earliest works devoted to the subject and gave Islamic legal theory a systematic form, thereby "fundamentally influencing the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact," and "beginning a new phase of the development of legal theory."

Al-Shafi'i was born in Gaza, Palestine, into the Banu Muttalib clan of the Quraysh tribe. At the age of two he was taken to Mecca, where he was raised. He subsequently lived in Medina, Yemen, Baghdad, and Egypt, and for a period served as a judge in Najran.

Among his numerous teachers was Mālik ibn Anas, from whom al-Shafi'i nevertheless differed by giving particular attention to the methods by which the Qur'an and sunna were to be applied in jurisprudence. He sought to formulate rules governing the use of qiyās (analogical reasoning), and, having subjected analogy to methodological rules, employed it to establish a middle course between conservative traditionalism and legal innovation. His treatment of legal method and the sources of law marked a new phase in the development of Islamic legal theory and became a major influence on later jurisprudence.