Imam al-Shafi’i: The scholar of structured legal methodology
Imam Muḥammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i (رَحِمَهُ الله) is remembered in the Islamic tradition as someone who put a structure to the faculty of usul al-fiqh (legal theory) by his teachings and his writings. He was a mujaddid (revivalist) in legal method, a master of Arabic language, a poet , a jurist, and a hafidh.
Al-Shāfiʿī was from Banū al-Muṭṭalib, a noble branch of Quraysh related to the Prophet ﷺ through lineage. He was born in Gaza in year 150 AH, it is the same year that Imam Abu Hanifah (رَحِمَهُ الله) died. This is an emblematic overlap to signal the “handover” of juristic leadership in the ummah.
Early life
His father died early, and his mother raised him in poverty but with fierce commitment to learning. She moved him from Gaza to Mecca, determined that her son would grow under the shadow of the Kaʿbah and the circles of knowledge. In Mecca, Imam Shafi’i started going to halaqas of all leading teachers on Mecca. He had a very sharp memory, he rarely forgot what he memorized. Some narrations mention that he covered one page while reading another to prevent his memory from absorbing too much at once. He also had intense discipline, and a deep immersion in the language of revelation. He memorized the entire Quran at the age of 10. His comprehension and understanding of the text was so deep that by the age of 15, the mufti of Mecca authorized him to issue legal fatwas. Not just that, he memorized Imam Malik’s monumental al-Muwaṭṭaʾ entirely, before ever meeting its author. Muwatta was the greatest text on Fiqh available during this time and memorizing it was a massive achievement.
Mastery of Arabic
Imam Shafi’i acquired a deep comprehension of Arabic language at early age. He left Makkah for a period of time to live among Bedouin tribes known for eloquence, particularly Hudhayl tribe which was known for their pure Arabic. There he absorbed poetry, grammar, and idiom until he mastered expression. His knowledge of Arabic allowed him to unlock the subtleties of legal meaning distinguishing between general and specific, absolute and restricted, literal and metaphorical. These were the years of struggle and poverty for Imam Shafi’i, he could not afford to pay the fee to his teachers but due to his brilliance and sincerity, a lot of teachers took him as student without charging any money. He could not afford paper so his mother collected bones, stones, and left over writing material from people for him to write on. In Mecca, he mostly had lived and survived on what others donated to him and his mother, during his initial years. Despite such poverty, Imam Shafi’i stayed focused on learning and comprehending Islamic text, Quran, Hadith, Fiqh and Arabic language.
With Imam Malik (رَحِمَهُ الله) in Madinah
After learning in Mecca for several years, Imam Shafi’i decided on traveling to Islamic lands with the intention of learning from various scholars, and different form of scholarship.
First he travelled to Madinah. There he sought out Imam Malik ibn Anas (رَحِمَهُ الله) , the great scholar of the Prophet’s ﷺ city. He carried with him a letter of introduction from the governor of Makkah. Imam Malik was not looking for his lineage or his connections in Mecca but when Imam Shafi’i told him that he had memorized Muwatta by heart, Imam Malik tested him. Soon Imam Malik recognized his brilliance and took him as his student. In Imam Malik’s circle, al-Shafi’i absorbed reverence for Hadith and caution in issuing rulings. Imam Malik was known for his reverence for Hadith and his reliance on the inherited practice of the companions and early people of Madinah. From Imam Malik, Imam al-Shāfiʿī absorbed deep respect for transmitted knowledge via prophetic Hadith and the central authority of the Quran and Sunnah. He stayed with Imam Malik until he passed away in 179 AH, after which Imam Shafi’i returned to Mecca and began teaching in the Sacred Mosque. He was still very young at this time and many senior scholars attended his lessons. The teachings of Imam Malik had a deep influence on Imam Shafi’i and his early rulings were mostly aligned with the approach of Imam Malik which was mainly to rely on Quranic text, Hadith and Sunnah and the ways of early muslims.
Yemen and Baghdad
Later, he traveled to Yemen and worked in administrative service. In Yemen, political suspicions led to him being accused of planning revolt in support of some rebel groups. He was brought in chains before the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd in Baghdad. Caliph asked him to defend himself, which he did with clarity and intelligence. Allah delivered him from harm. This episode strengthened his reputation for composure under pressure. Not just that, Hārūn al-Rashīd asked him to stay in Baghdad and be one of the court’s jurist. It is recorded that the Caliph gave him ten thousand dinars as a gift for accepting the position, which Imam Shafi’i donated fully.
In Baghdad, he got the opportunity to study with Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (رَحِمَهُ الله) , the foremost student of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah and a leading architect of Ḥanafī fiqh. Here, al-Shāfiʿī encountered the most refined form of qiyās (analogy), juristic disputation, and structured legal problem sets. The fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifah has a highly developed juristic reasoning, which was a totally new approach Imam Shafi’i was exposed to. He used to spent hours discussing and understanding this approach with Al Shaybani, trying to align qiyas with Quran and Prophetic traditions and Ijma. This phase was very important , not just in life of Imam Shafi’i but also for the science of jurisprudence of Islam. This phase resulted in alignment of two major legal temperaments of the early ummah – The Hijazi tradition with heavy emphasis on ḥadīth transmission and the inherited practice of the people of Madīnah and the The Iraqi tradition with highly developed juristic reasoning, qiyas (analogy), and systematic fiqh problem-solving.
During his Iraqi period, he began articulating ideas that would later appear in his foundational work, al-Risalah. In that book, he laid out principles for deriving law from the Quran and Sunnah. He clarified that the Sunnah stands as an independent proof. He defined consensus carefully. He disciplined analogy so that it would not drift into subjective preference. He insisted that legal claims must rest on evidence. He used to say,
“If the ḥadith is authentic, then that is my madhhab.”
With Imam ibn Hanbal (رَحِمَهُ الله)
Imam Ibn Hanbal رَحِمَهُ الله met Imam Shafi’i in Baghdad and became one of his students. Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal attended his gatherings and transmitted from him. Imam Ahmad later praised him and acknowledged learning legal methodology from him. Through Imam Ahmad, Imam al-Shafi’i’s influence extended into the Ḥanbali tradition as well. Imam Shafi’i was very impressed with the piety and devotion of Imam Ahmed, when he left Baghdad, he said,
“When I left Baghdad, I left behind no one more virtuous, learned, and knowledgeable than Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.”
Egypt
He later moved to Egypt. There he encountered new narrations and new scholarly contexts. The political and cultural landscape of Egypt was very different than of Baghdad at that time, and Imam Shafi’i refined a lot of his rulings based on the new situation in Egypt. He reassessed his principles when the contexts changed, and this resulted in new legal formation of his school of thought. Scholars distinguish between his qawl qadīm(earlier opinions in Iraq) and qawl jadīd (later opinions in Egypt). In Egypt, he dictated what became known as al-Umm, a vast record of his juristic discussions. In it, he engaged opposing views with clarity and strength. He modeled structured argumentation. He used to say,
“My opinion is correct but could be wrong; another’s opinion is wrong but could be correct.”
His willingness to reconcile his approach with the new knowledge he acquired set an example for later jurists.
In his students, he valued sincerity. He advised students to purify their intention before seeking knowledge. He warned against pursuing scholarship for prestige. His poetry—preserved in various collections—often emphasizes patience, dignity, and reliance on Allah. He united intellectual rigor with spiritual awareness.
Al Risalah
Imam Al-Shāfiʿī is credited as the first to systematize the foundations of legal reasoning in a way that later scholars could treat as a discrete discipline. His most famous work is al-Risālah, in which he professed the authority of the Sunnah and its relationship to the Qurʾān, the rules of abrogation and abrogated, the boundaries of ijmāʿ (consensus), the legitimacy and limits of qiyās, and the insistence that legal claims must be argued with disciplined textual reasoning.
His death
His health declined in Egypt. Reports mention illness in his later years. Yet he continued teaching. He continued refining his views. He continued dictating knowledge.
In 204 AH (820 CE), he passed away in Egypt. Crowds attended his funeral. His grave in Cairo became a place known for remembrance of scholarship and discipline.
Centuries passed, and his school spread across Egypt, the Levant, Yemen, East Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Scholars expanded his principles, wrote commentaries on his works, and preserved his methodology. His influence extended beyond the Shāfiʿī madhhab; even scholars of other schools engaged with his articulation of uṣūl al-fiqh.