*Imam Shafi‘i – Part 2*


After reaching Baghdad, he acquired knowledge of Hadith and Fiqh from Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad bin Hasan al-Shaybani [the prominent student of Imam Abu Hanifah] and broadened his knowledge. At that time he was 34 years old. Imam Shafi‘i says: “I acquired knowledge from Imam Muhammad equal to the load of a camel.” He would both gain knowledge from Imam Muhammad and also debate various issues with him. In this way, he got the opportunity to fully compare the schools of thought of Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifah. In Baghdad, he also benefited from Waki‘ bin al-Jarrah, Abu Usamah Hammad bin Usamah, Isma‘il bin ‘Ulayyah, and Abdul Wahhab bin Abdul Majid. Then he returned to Makkah Mukarramah and, giving up the thought of employment, engaged himself in the service and propagation of religious knowledge in the Haram Sharif.


*Teaching* — When he started teaching the Book and Sunnah, Allah granted him acceptance, and his remarkable capability attracted students from far and wide. Many people became his students, among them was Ahmad bin Hanbal. After teaching in Makkah Mukarramah for 9 years, he came to Baghdad again in 195 AH and rendered the service of teaching there. In Baghdad at that time, the Mu‘tazila were dominant. Imam Shafi‘i did not find that atmosphere suitable, so he returned to Makkah in 198 AH. After staying in Makkah for a few months, he went to Egypt in 199 AH and remained engaged there for the rest of his life in teaching, Fiqh and Fatwa, writing and authorship. He had a long chain of students, among whom the following are prominent: Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Hasan bin Sabah, Husain al-Qurayshi, Abu Thawr Ibrahim bin Khalid, Isma‘il bin Yahya, Marwi bin Sulayman, Yusuf bin Abi Hafs, Harmalah, Muhammad bin Abdullah, Abdullah bin Zubair.


*Imam Shafi‘i’s Status in Fiqh* — Imam Shafi‘i held an important position in both Hadith and Fiqh. First, he was acquainted with the Fiqh of both the people of Hijaz and the people of Iraq, and with the foundations and methods of their reasoning. Imam Shafi‘i also had deductive insight. Accordingly, he added a third jurisprudential viewpoint between the Fiqh of Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifah, which was based on the authenticity and strength of the Hadith of the Messenger. Imam Shafi‘i also tried to organize the principles of Fiqh. In this regard, he wrote a book titled _Al-Risalah_. For this reason, he is called the founder of _Usul al-Fiqh_. Imam Shafi‘i’s other very famous book on Fiqh and Fatwa is _Kitab al-Umm_. Besides this, mention is found of _Kitab Baghdadi_, _Risalah Qadimah_ and _Jadidah_, _Ikhtilaf al-Hadith_, _Kitab al-Sunan_, _Ibtal al-Istihsan_, _Ahkam al-Qur’an_, _Jami‘ al-‘Ilm_, etc. Due to his jurisprudential services, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal declared him the Mujaddid of the second century.


*Character and Habits* — Imam Shafi‘i was extremely pious, God-fearing, and adherent to the Sunnah. Justice and fairness were his way. He did not like debates and verbal arguments. He was very generous. He himself had experienced poverty and understood the problems of the poor. When he returned to Makkah from Yemen, he had 10,000 dinars with him, and he distributed the entire amount among the creation of Allah. He was truthful and courageous. He loved the common people. He always took care of cleanliness and purity and wore fine clothes. He passed away in Egypt at the age of 54 in Rajab 204 AH and was buried there.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AL ASHARI SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

 AL ASHARI SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY The more constructive among Asharite thinkers for no doubt on the right path and anticipated some of the more modern forms of idealism yet on the whole the object of the Asharite movement was simply to defend orthodox opinion with the weapons of Greek dialectic.Muslim thinkers of the school of Al AShari did not believe in the infinite divisibility of space and time with them space , time and motion are made up of points and instance which cannot be further subdivided. Ibne Azam however rejected the Asharaite notion of infinite smalls and modern mathematics has confirmed his view. the Asharite argument therefore cannot logically resolve the paradox of zeno Reference: The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam- Allama Iqbal.
Read more

FREDERICK II

Image
FREDERICK II His court was half Oriental and full of highly educated Arabs and some of these were associated in the education of the young King .now they were at some pains to make their point of view clear to him. He got a Muslim view of Christianity as well as a Christian view of ISlam and and unHappy result of this double system instruction was a view exceptional in the age of faith that all religion were  impostures.  He  talk freely on the subject . His blasphemies are on record. He gathered Jews and Muslim as well as Christian philosphers at his court and he did much to educate the Italian mind with saracenic influences. through him the Arabic numerals and algebra were introduced to Christian students and among other philosophers at his court was Michael Scott , who translated portions of Aristotle and the commentaries thereon of the Arab  philosopher averroes of cordoba. We have seen how the Arabs were the means of restoring Aristotle to Europe and how such a ...
Read more

Maulvi Samiullah Khan

Image
 Maulvi Samiullah Khan  He was a close aziz of Sir Syed. Born in 1834 in Delhi, after getting Arabic-Persian education, he got law education and got the post of Munsif. He had a keen eye on the law, hence gave clan-like decisions, but did this work according to his temperament. After not getting the desired results, he resigned and started practicing law.He started it on the very first day. Sir Syed's followers are helpful in his education movement. When a Madrasa was established in Aligarh under his mother, its supervision was handed over to him. He carried out his duties with utmost audacity. On the issue of Syed Mahmood's murder, he spoke to Sir Syed. There was a disagreement and there was a bad temper.But his sympathy for the college remained with him till the end. He died in Aligarh on 17th April 1908. As per his will, his body was taken to Delhi. He was laid to rest near his father's side near the tomb of Shah Abdul Aziz Muhammad Das, outside Delhi gate. incinerated R...
Read more