Aswhab al-Wujuh: Imam Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali ash-Shirazi al-Fayruzabadi (r.a.) in Brief

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is adapted and extracted from “Biographies of Some of the Aswhab al-Wujuh in the Shafi’i Madzhab.”  The Aswhab al-Wujuh are the scholars who developed and transmitted the Shafi’i madzhab from the time of the immediate students of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i (r.a.), circa 200 AH, to the time of Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (r.a.), circa 500 AH.  Thereafter there was a pressing need for recension of all this development into a single body of work.  This task was met by Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad ar-Rafi’i (r.a.) and Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (r.a.), who became known as the Shaykhayn in the madzhab. 

Imam Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali ash-Shirazi al-Fayruzabadi (r.a.) was born in Fayruzabad, Iran, in 393 AH, where he grew up.  He then travelled to Shiraz, where he began learning fiqh.  He later travelled to Baswra, and entered Baghdad in 410 AH.  There, he studied under the great scholar and jurist, Imam Abu Thayyib Thahir ibn ‘Abdullah ath-Thabari (r.a.), who was the shaykh of the jurists at that time.  Imam Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (r.a.) studied under him for approximately 15 years, as well as other scholars.  He was amongst Imam Abu Thayyab ath-Thabari’s (r.a.) greatest students.  Imam Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (r.a.) later became the head of the Shafi’i jurists in his time. 

He was poor but also patient.  He was well known for his eloquence in Arabic and mastery of poetry.  Whenever “ash-Shaykh” is mentioned in a number of books in the Shafi’i school, it is Imam Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (r.a.).  This is because it is narrated that he saw the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) in a dream, and he addressed Imam Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (r.a.) as “Ya Shaykh”.  This made Imam Abu Ishaq ash-Shirazi (r.a.) happy, “The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) called me by ‘shaykh’.”  He passed away in the 476 AH, and left behind many notable books in the Shafi’i school.