Islamic Timeline of RevelationOpen in flowchart →Shafi'i School
المذهب الشافعي
The school of Imam al-Shafi'i, who studied with Malik and with al-Shaybani and systematised legal theory (usul al-fiqh) in al-Risalah. Widespread in Egypt, East Africa, Yemen, and Southeast Asia.
Biography
Al-Shafi'i, a Qurayshi, synthesised the Madinan and Iraqi approaches and argued that authenticated hadith (including single-narrator reports) are binding, defining the sources as Quran, Sunnah, consensus and analogy. His old (Iraqi) and new (Egyptian) opinions are both recorded.
He died in Egypt in 204 AH.
Sources & explanation
۞ Qur'an
No specific verses cited for this node.
📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com
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Sahih al-Bukhari 7352 Sahih
'When a judge strives and is right he has two rewards; if he strives and errs he has one reward' — basis of ijtihad.
💬 Explanation Unverified
Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective
Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: Presented neutrally; al-Shafi'i's maxim attributed to him, 'if a hadith is authentic, it is my school', is often cited in favour of evidence-based following.
Empires in their lifetime
- Abbasid Caliphate 750 CE – 1258 CEAl-Shafi'i lived and taught in the Abbasid era.
Further references
- al-Shafi'i, al-Risalah
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar
Connections
Comes from
- Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah (Sunni Islam) offshoot — Sunni legal school
Linked with
- Maliki School related — Al-Shafi'i studied under Malik
- Hanbali School related — Ahmad studied under al-Shafi'i