The Biography of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i (r.a.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is adapted from the work of Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad. 

He was Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Utsman ibn Shafi’ ibn asw-Swa’ib ibn ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Abd al-Yazad ibn Hashim ibn al-Muththalib ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Qusay ash-Shafi’i al-Hijazi al-Makki al-Azdi al-Qurayshi al Hashimi al-Muththalibi (r.a.). 

Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) said, of him, “He was like the Sun over the world and good health for people – do these two have replacements or successors?”  This was recorded in Imam Abu ‘Umar Yusuf ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Barr’s (r.a.) al-Intiqa’ fî Fadha’il ats-Tsalatsat al-A’immat al-Fuqaha’ Malik wa ash-Shafi’î wa Abi Hanifah. 

He was a relative of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), descended from al-Muththalib ibn ‘Abd al-Manaf, who is the brother of Hashim, Sayyidina ‘Abd al-Muththalib’s (r.a.) father.  Both his great-great-grandfather, Sayyidina Shafi’ ibn asw-Swa’ib (r.a.), and the latter’s father, Sayyidina asw-Swa’ib ibn ‘Ubayd (r.a.), were companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.), as were Sayyidina asw-Swa’ib ibn ‘Ubayd’s (r.a.) uncles - ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Abd Yazid’s brothers - Sayyidina ‘Ujayr (r.a.), and Sayyidina Rukana (r.a.), the man who wrestled with the Prophet (s.a.w.).  This was narrated by Imam Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash’ats as-Sijistani (r.a.), and Imam Abu ‘Isa Muhammad ibn ‘Isa as-Sulami at-Tirmidzi (r.a.). 

Sayyidina asw-Swa’ib’s (r.a.) mother was Sayyidah ash-Shifa’ bint al-Arqam ibn Hashim, sister of Sayyidatina Fathimah bint Asad (r.a.), the mother of Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib (k.w.), who the Prophet (s.a.w.) called his second mother. 

Someone praised Banu Hashim in front of the Prophet (s.a.w.), whereupon the latter interlaced the fingers of his two hands, and said, “We and they, are but one and the same”, or in another narration, “The Banu Hashim and the Banu ‘Abd al-Muththalib are not but one and the same”.  This is found in Swahih al-Bukhari. 

Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (r.a.) listed three merits peculiar to Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.): his sharing the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) lineage at the level of their common ancestor, ‘Abd al-Manaf; his birth in the land of Palestine, and upbringing in Makkah; and his education at the hands of superlative scholars together with his own superlative intelligence and knowledge of the Arabic language. 

Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) quoted from the Manaqib of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hakim an-Nishaburi (r.a.), that it was narrated to him, by Shaykh Abu Naswr ibn Ahmad al-Husayn (r.a.), that he heard from Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah (r.a.) that Imam Yunus ibn Abd al-‘Ala (r.a.), a student and companion of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said, “The mother of ash-Shafi’i was Fathimah bint ‘Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib.”  This is found in Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani’s (r.a.) Tahdzib at-Tahdzib.  As seen here, Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was both related to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.), through his father and through his mother, by way of Sayyidina ‘Ali (k.w.). 

Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) added two more merits to Imam an-Nawawi’s (r.a.) list: the ḥadits of the Prophet (s.a.w.), “O Allah!  Guide Quraysh, for the science of the scholar that comes from them will encompass the Earth.  O Allah!  You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward!”  Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) and Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) said that the chains are strong with all corroborating narrations together.  Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Hazm (r.a.) declared it swahih in his al-Ihkam fi Uswul al-Ahkam. 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) also narrated, with two chains, the prohibition of cursing the Quraysh, and the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) statement to Sayyidina Qatadah ibn an-Nu’man azh-Zhafari (r.a.): “You might see among them men with deeds next to which you will despair your own deeds, and envy them whenever you see them.  If I did not fear Quraysh’s tyranny, I would disclose to them all the good Allah (s.w.t.) has in store for them.” 

In another hadits, the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Truly Allah shall Send Forth for this community, at the onset of every hundred years, those who will renew the religion.”  This is a sound hadits by agreement of the masters of ahadits. 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) also recorded the hadits of the renewer being sent every 100 years, “It was ‘Umar ibn Abd al-‘Aziz in the first hundred, and in the second hundred, it was ash-Shafi’i!” 

Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) also mentioned another great merit, the superlative praise of Yemen and the Yemenis by the Prophet (s.a.w.) in the numerous sayings of his, as Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) is from Yemen on his mother’s side, such as the statement, “Faith is Yemeni!” as reported in Swahih Muslim, and elsewhere. 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was born in a village in Ghazza, by the town of ‘Asqalan, in 150 AH, the same year Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) passed away, shortly after his father’s death in Sham.  His mother took him, at the age of two, to the Ḥijaz, where he grew up among her Azdi Yemeni relatives.  Later, fearing the waste of his sharif lineage, she moved him to Makka.  Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was a skillful archer.  Then he took to learning language and poetry, until he devoted himself to fiqh, beginning with ahadits.  His mother could not afford to buy him paper, so he would write his lessons on bones, particularly shoulder-bones.  He memorised the Qur’an at age seven, then Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas’s (r.a.) al-Muwaṭhṭha’ at age ten, at which time his teacher would deputise him to teach in his absence.  He received permission to give fatwa at age fifteen.  All this is recorded in Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Hatim Muhammad ar-Razi’s (r.a.) Manaqib ash-Shafi’i wa Adabuh. 

Imam Abu Manswur ‘Abd al-Qahir ibn Thahir al-Baghdadi’s (r.a.) Manaqib Imam ash-Shafi’i, and Naqd Abu ‘Abdullah al-Jurjani fi Tarjiḥ Madzhab Abu Hanifah, related the following example of the Imam ash-Shafi’i’s (r.a.) perspicuity at an early age: Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was sitting at Malik’s feet one day, when a man came in and said, “I sell turtle-doves, and one of my customers returned one of them to me today saying that it does not coo, so I swore to him on pain of divorce that my turtle-dove coos all the time!” 

Imam Malik (r.a.) said, “You have divorced your wife and are not to approach her.” 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was fourteen at the time.  He asked the man, “Which happens more, your turtle-dove’s cooing or its silence?” 

The said: “Its cooing”. 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said, “Your marriage is valid and there is no penalty for you.” 

Whereupon Imam Malik (r.a.) frowned at him saying: “Boy, how do you know this?” 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) replied, “Because you narrated to me from az-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman, from Umm Salamah, that Fathimah bint Qays said, ‘Rasulullah! Abu Jahm and Mu’awiyah have both proposed to me.’ 

The Prophet (s.a.w.) replied, ‘Mu’awiyah is penniless, and as for Abu Jahm he does not put down his staff from his shoulder.’”  This has two possible meanings: he is a wife-beater, or he travels a lot.’”  That is, most of the time Arabs assert the more frequent of two actions, exclusively of the other, because of its constancy.  Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) continued, “Since this man’s turtledove coos more than it is silent, I can declare it constant in its cooing.” 

Imam Malik (r.a.) was pleased at his reasoning.”  This is found in Imam Taj ad-Din Abu Naswr ʻAbd al-Wahhab ibn ʻAli as-Subki’s (r.a.) Thabaqat ash-Shafi’iyyah al-Kubra. 

The scholars said that Allah (s.w.t.) Accelerated the intelligence of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) and Imam an-Nawawi (r.a.) because he gave them a short lifespan.  Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Naswr Futuh ibn Humayd (r.a.) narrated that the faqih of Makkah, Imam Muslim ibn Khalid az-Zanji (r.a.), said to Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), “Give fatwa, Abu ‘Abdullah!  It is time you gave fatwa.”  At that time, Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was fifteen years old. 

Imam Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Salam al-Khurasani al-Harawi (r.a.) said, “If the intelligence of an entire nation was brought together, he would have encompassed it!” 

His mother put him beneath the scholars as a boy in Makkah.  He studied there, with: Imam Muslim ibn Khalid az-Zanji (r.a.), the Mufti of Makkah; Imam Dawud ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Aththar (r.a.), and his uncle, Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Shafi’ (r.a.), and he was the nephew of Imam al-‘Abbas (r.a.), the grandfather of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), Imam Abu Muhammad Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah (r.a.), Imam ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr al-Maliki (r.a.), Imam Sa’id ibn Salim (r.a.), Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Fudhayl ibn ‘lyadh (r.a.), and others.  Imam adz-Dzahabi (r.a.) said, “I have not seen that he took anything from Nafi’ ibn ‘Umar even though he was with him in Makkah!” 

In 163 A.H., at age thirteen, though some say he was older, Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) went to see Imam Malik (r.a.), in Madina, who was impressed by his memory and intelligence.  He took the Muwaṭhṭha’, from Imam Malik (r.a.), and also took knowledge, particularly hadits, from Imam Ibrahim ibn Abu Yahya (r.a.), Imam Abdul-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad ad-Darurdi (r.a.), Imam ‘Athaf ibn Khalid (r.a.), Imam Isma’il ibn Ja’far (r.a.), Imam Ibrahim ibn Sa’d (r.a.), and a group from their generation. 

Some of the Qurayshis recommended Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) to the new governor of Yemen, al-Muththalibi, and he went back to Yemen as his aide.  He took knowledge in Yemen from Imam Mutharrif ibn Mazin (r.a.), Imam Hisham ibn Yusuf al-Qadhi (r.a.), and an entire group of scholars of the time and era.  This is found in Imam adz-Dzahabi’s (r.a.) Siyar al-‘Alam an-Nubala’, under the entry of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.). 

He held a judgeship in Najran, during which his fame reached the stars for his sense of fairness and his acceptance on the part of the people.  This did not last.  The governor, Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), and a number of ‘Alawiyyah were summoned to Baghdad in chains, all of them accused of being ‘Alawi agitators by the agent of the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid in Yemen.  They were executed one after another.  When Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was introduced before the Caliph, he said, “Oh Amir al-Mu’minin!  What do you say about a man who has two paternal cousins, one of whom deems him his intimate family, places him in his own lineage, affirms that his property is taboo to him except by his permission, that his daughter is unmarriageable to him except by his betrothal, and that he considers him to own the same rights over him as he would over himself.  The other, however, claims that the man is beneath him, that he is higher than him in lineage, that he is his slave, his daughter his bondswoman, that she belongs to him without his permission, and that his property is his booty.  Which of them should you rightly patronise, Commander of the Believers?  You are that man, and here are your two paternal cousins!”  Harun asked Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) to repeat to him his parable three times until he understood what he meant.  Then he spared his life, but ordered him detained. 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) intended to ask Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaybani (r.a.) to intercede for him at the time he was being detained in Baghdad.  However, when he witnessed him disparaging Madina and its scholars one day, he rose and said, “Madina is the sacred precinct of the Prophet (s.a.w.), its people his companions and relatives-in-law, those that came after them the successors and elite of this ummah.  And if, by ‘the people of Madina,’ you meant one man, Malik ibn Anas, then say his name and leave the rest alone!” 

Imam ash-Shaybani (r.a.) replied, “I meant Malik ibn Anas.” 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) responded, “Malik is one man, and there were, in Madina, jurists other than him,” then he proceeded to refute Imam ash-Shaybani’s (r.a.) published critique of the Madinans point by point. 

When the Caliph heard of the incident, he said, “And why should Muhammad ibn al-Hasan be irked that a man from Banu ‘Abd al-Manaf silenced him?”  Then he had five thousand dananir dispatched to Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), and released him.  Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) used a full fifty dananir to pay the barber for a cupping, and gave the rest to those Makkans and Qurayshis that were present, retaining only one hundred dananir for himself.  This is written in Imam al-Bayhaqi’s (r.a.) Manaqib ash-Shafi’i. 

While in Baghdad, he studied Hanafi fiqh at the hands of Imam ash-Shaybani (r.a.).  Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said, “I always held Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaybani in the highest esteem, and spent sixty dananir buying all his books.”  He never met Imam Abu Yusuf Ya’qub ibn Ibrahim al-Answari (r.a.), the disciple of Imam Abu Hanifah (r.a.), but does report from him through Imam ash-Shaybani (r.a.), in his al-Umm, and the Musnad. 

It is related that Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) prayed one time after shaving, with hair all over his clothes, at a time when he considered hair impure.  Asked about it, he replied, “When we cannot avoid something, we follow the ruling of the ‘Iraqis,” referring to the schools of Imam Abu Hanifah, and Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Sufyan ibn Sa’id ats-Tsawri (r.a.), in the matter.  Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.), in the Manaqib ash-Shafi’i, related that Imam ash-Shafi’i’s (r.a.) final position is that hair is pure. 

Imam al-Hakim (r.a.) narrated from Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam (r.a.), “ash-Shafi’i never ceased to speak according to Malik’s position, and he would say, ‘We do not differ from him other than the way colleagues would,’ until some young men spoke unbecomingly at length, behind his back, whereupon ash-Shafi’i resolved to put his differences with Malik in writing.  Otherwise, his whole life he would say, whenever asked something, ‘This is what the Teacher said’”, referring to Imam Malik (r.a.). 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) also said, “al-Layts ibn Sa’d is stronger in fiqh than Malik, but his school perished for lack of students.”  This was recorded by Imam Jamal ad-Din Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn az-Zaki ʻAbd ar-Rahman al-Mizzi (r.a.), in Tahdzib al-Kamal fi Asma’ ar-Rijal, and elsewhere.  This was also the view of Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (r.a.), Imam Sa’id ibn Abu Ayyub (r.a.), and Imam Yahya ibn Yahya ibn Bukayr (r.a.), while Imam ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad ad-Darawardi (r.a.) put Imam al-Layts ibn Sa’d al-Qalqashandi (r.a.) even above Imam Rabi’at ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman ar-Ra’iy, the teacher of Imam Malik (r.a.). 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) traveled to Baghdad three times: as a student in 184AH with the group of Yemeni descendants of Sayyidina ‘Ali (k.w.); as a recognised imam in fiqh, in 195AH, returning to Makkah two years later; then in 198AH, for a few months, after which he went to Egypt, where he remained until his death.  This was recorded by Imam ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (r.a.), in al-Intiqa’ fî Fadha’il ats-Tsalatsat al-A’immat al-Fuqaha’ Malik wa ash-Shafi’i wa Abu Hanifah. 

When he entered Egypt, he was patronised by the ascetic friend of the poor and descendant of the Prophet (s.a.w.), Sayyidah Nafisah bint al-Hasan al-Anwar ath-Thahirah (q.s.), who ordered his bier brought into her house when he passed away, so that she could recite the funeral prayer over him, and carried the bier.  Sayyidah Nafisah (q.s.) is the daughter of Sayyid al-Hasan (r.a.), the son of Sayyid Zayd (r.a.), the son of Sayyidina al-Hasan (r.a.), the son of Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib (k.w.).  In other words, she is the great-great-granddaughter of Sayyidina al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (k.w.), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) is the paradigm of hadits-informed jurisprudence among the Salaf, gathering under one roof, the superlative insight of Imam Abu Hanifah (r.a.) and Imam Malik’s (r.a.) legal opinion on the one hand, and on the other, the extensive knowledge of narrators and the evidence they transmitted which characterised Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (r.a.), and Imam Ahmad (r.a.).  Imam Ahmad (r.a.) said, “We did not cease to curse the people of legal opinion, and they would curse us, until ash-Shafi’i came, and reconciled our differences.”  This was recorded by Qadhi Abu al-Fadhl ‘Iyadh ibn ‘Amr al-Yahsubi (r.a.), in Tartib al-Madarik wa Taqrib al-Masalik li Ma’rifat A’alam Madzhab Malik. 

Imam ‘Izz ad-Din ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abd as-Salam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said that there is not a single hadits that did not reach Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), in one form or another, whether musnad, mursal, or munqathi’.  This is recorded in Hafizh ‘Imad ad-Din Abu al-Fida’ Isma’il ibn ‘Umar ibn Katsir’s (r.a.) al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah. 

Two madzahib of fiqh are actually attributed to Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), embracing all his positions and fatawa.  These two schools are known in the terminology of the jurists as “The Old” and the “The New”, corresponding respectively to his stays in ‘Iraq and Egypt.  The most prominent transmitters of “The New” among Imam ash-Shafi’i’s (r.a.) students were Imam Abu Ya’qub Yusuf ibn Yahya al-Buwayṭhi (r.a.), Imam Abu Ibrahim Isma’il ibn Yahya (r.a.), and Imam ar-Rabi’ ibn Sulayman al-Muradi (r.a.), in al-Umm.  The most prominent transmitters of “The Old” school are Imam Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Muhammad az-Za’farani (r.a.), Imam Ahmad (r.a.), Imam Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Karabisi (r.a.), and Imam Abu Tsawr Ibrahim ibn Khalid al-Baghdadi (r.a.), in Kitab al-Hujjah.  What is presently known as the Shafi’i position refers to the New school, except in approximately twenty-two questions, in which Shafi’i scholars have retained the positions of the Old. 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) was known for his peculiar strength in the Arabic language, poetry, and philology.  He is the only Qurayshi of the four a’immah, and the only one of the four to be raised in Makkah, the cradle of the chief Qur’anic dialect.  His Diwan of poetry is among the masterpieces of Arabic literature.  Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) narrated, “ash-Shafi’i was an Arab in his soul, and an Arab in his speech.  If you had seen him, and seen the beauty of his expression and eloquence, you would have been awestruck.  If he had authored his books in the way that he used to speak, no one would have been able to read them.” 

Shaykh Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham al-Baswri (r.a.) reported, “I was ash-Shafi’i’s close companion for a long time, and I never heard him us anything other than a word which, carefully considered, one would not find a better word in the entire Arabic language.”   He also wrote, “ash-Shafi’i’s discourse, in relation to language, is a proof in itself.” 

Imam az-Zafarani (r.a.) reported, “A group of Bedouins used to frequent ash-Shafi’i’s gathering with us, and sit in a corner.  One day, I asked their leader, ‘You are not interested in scholarship; why do you sit with us?’ 

They said, ‘We come to hear al-Shafi’i’s language.’” 

Imam al-Muzani (r.a.) reported, “ash-Shafi’i asked Ibrahim ibn ‘Ulayyah, after they finished listening to a girl singing Arabic poetry, ‘Does this bring joy to your soul?’  He said no. ash-Shafi’i said, ‘You have no feelings!’” 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) said, “ash-Shafi’i is a hujjah in the Arabic language!”  This is recorded in Hafizh ibn Katsir’s (r.a.) Thabaqat ash-Shafi’yyin. 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said, “If a rational man does not become a Sufi, he does not reach noon except he is a dolt!” 

Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) also said, “I accompanied the Sufis for ten years and benefited from them but from two sayings: their statement that time is as a sword: if you do not cut it, it cuts you, and their statement that deprivation is immunity.” 

Imam Isma’il ibn Muhammad al-‘Ajluni (r.a.) reported that Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) said, “Three things in this world have been made lovely to me: avoiding affectation, treating people kindly, and abiding by the way of the people of taswawwuf!” 

In the Diwan of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), it is written: 

“Be both a jurist and a Sufî – never just one of the two.

Truly, by the Divine Right, I am advising you sincerely!

For the former is hardened, his heart tastes no Godwariness,

While the latter is ignorant – of what use is the ignorant?” 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) said, “Not one of the scholars of aḥadits touches an inkwell or a pen without owing a huge debt to ash-Shafi’i.” 

One of Imam Ahmad’s (r.a.) shuyukh, Imam Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qaththan (r.a.), said, “I supplicate Allah (s.w.t.) for ash-Shafi’i even inside my prayer.” 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) himself said he made du’a for Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) for forty years. 

When Imam Ahmad (r.a.) first asked Imam Abu Ya’qub Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Rahwayh al-Hanzhali (r.a.) to “come and see a man the like of whom your eyes have not yet seen” – meaning Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) – Imam ibn Rahwayh (r.a.) faulted Imam Ahmad (r.a.) for attending the fiqh sessions of their peer in age, and leaving the hadits sessions of the older Imam Abu Muhammad Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah (r.a.).  Imam Ahmad (r.a.) replied, “Woe to you!  If you miss a hadits with a shorter chain, it will not harm you to find it elsewhere with a longer chain.  But if you do not have the reasoning of this man, I fear you will never be able to find it elsewhere!” 

Imam ibn Rahwayh (r.a.) asked Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) a few questions, after which he turned to a friend from Merv, and said to him, in Persian, “The young man lacks finish.”  Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), perceiving the slight, turned to Imam ibn Rahwayh (r.a.), and in a rapid-fire succession of proofs, defeated him.  After this incident Imam ibn Rahwayh (r.a.) would say, “I consider it my greatest blessing when I fully understand ash-Shafi’i’s discourse”, while the latter expressed disapproval of Imam ibn Rahwayh’s (r.a.) title as the jurist of Khurasan.  This is found in Imam al-Bayhaqi’s (r.a.) Manaqib ash-Shafi’i; Imam Shams ad-Din Muhammad ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Sakhawi’s (r.a.) in the introduction to his al-Jawahir wa ad-Durar fi Tarjamat Shaykh al-Islam ibn Hajr, and Imam ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (r.a.), in al-Intiqa’ fî Fadha’il ats-Tsalatsat al-A’immat al-Fuqaha’ Malik wa ash-Shafi’i wa Abu Hanifah, among others. 

When Imam Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Ma’in (r.a.) expressed shock at the fact that Imam Ahmad (r.a.) was seen standing at the foot of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), holding his stirrup as the latter sat mounted, Imam Ahmad (r.a.) retorted, “If you want to learn fiqh, come and hold his other stirrup.”  This is also recorded in Imam ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (r.a.), in al-Intiqa’ fî Fadha’il ats-Tsalatsat al-A’immat al-Fuqaha’ Malik wa ash-Shafi’i wa Abu Hanifah, just like the other narrations below. 

Imam Ahmad (r.a.) forbade Imam Yahya (r.a.) from criticising Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), saying, “Your eyes have never seen the like of ash-Shafi’i!” and “You understand nothing, Abu Zakariyya, of the meanings of ash-Shafi’i’s words!  And whoever fails to understand something, opposes it.” 

The majority of the scholars of hadits were either Shafi’i in fiqh, or Shafi’i inclined.   They included Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman Ahmad ibn Shu’ayb an-Nasa’i (r.a.), Imam al-Bukhari (r.a.), Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah (r.a.), Imam al-Hakim (r.a.), Imam Abu Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ad-Daraquthni (r.a.), Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.), and many more.  Many great scholars of ‘aqidah, including the leader of the Asha’ri school, Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Isma’il al-Ash’ari (r.a.); and great scholars of taswawwuf, such as Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdad (q.s.), and Imam Abu ‘Abdullah al-Harits ibn Asad al-‘Anazi al-Muhasibi (q.s.), were followers of Imam ash-Shafi’i’s (r.a.) madzhab.  The scholars of his madzhab have been diligent in preserving, and expanding on the body of works, and there are thousands of books, treatises, and commentaries written and memorised.  This is the second largest madzhab, in Islam, after the Hanafi madzhab.