Muḥammad ibn ʾIdrīs ash-Shāfiʿī

A Brief Biography of Muhammad ibn ʾIdrīs ash-Shāfiʿī (رضي الله تعالى عنه)

His Noble Lineage

He is ʾAbū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn ʾIdrīs ibnu-l-ʿAbbās ibn ʿUthmān ibn Shāfiʿ ibnu-s-Sāʾib ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Yazīd ibn Hishām ibnu-l-Muttalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Qusayy al-Qurayshī al-Muttalibī ash-Shāfiʿī al-Hijāzī al-Makkī al-Ghazzī. He is most famous by the name "ash-Shāfiʿī" due to his attribution to Sayyidnā Shāfiʿ ibn as-Sāʾib, the first Sahābī in his lineage.¹

He was from the hearts of the Arabs and from the offspring of the family of Sayyidnā Muhammad ﷺ, their lineages meeting at ʿAbd Manāf. Ibn ʿAbd Manāf had two sons, Hāshim and al-Muttalib. Sayyidnā Muhammad ﷺ descended from Hāshim, whereas our Imām descended from al-Muttalib, making him the paternal cousin of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and from Ahl al-Bayt.² The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ himself declared, "The Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muttalib are one and the same."³ He is Qurayshī and Muttalibī without any shadow of doubt, as affirmed by the Ijmāʿ of historians, and Shaykh al-Islām an-Nawawī stated, "Ash-Shāfiʿī was the Qurayshī Muttalibī by the Ijmāʿ of historians from all groups."⁴

There are, in addition, four Companions of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ in his direct lineage: Sayyidnā Shāfiʿ ibn as-Sāʾib, Sayyidnā as-Sāʾib ibn ʿUbayd, Sayyidnā ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Yazīd and Sayyidnā ʿAbd Yazīd ibn Hāshim, may Allāh ﷻ be pleased with them all.

His Rank and the Prophetic Foretelling

He was one of the great peerless Mujtahid Imāms, unparalleled in his station, scrupulously pious, ascetic and a Friend of Allāh ﷻ without any doubt. Imām ʾAhmad ibn Hanbal praised him in words that have endured across the centuries, likening him to "the sun over the world and good health for people — do these two have replacements or successors?" The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ had foretold his coming in the reported Hadīth, "A scholar from the Quraysh will come whose knowledge will encompass the earth."⁵ Imām ʾAhmad would later say, when asked about a matter for which he knew no narration, "I answer with the opinion of ash-Shāfiʿī, for indeed he is the scholar from the Quraysh."⁶

He is regarded as the Mujaddid of the second Islamic century without any dispute among the scholars, for Sayyidnā al-Mustafā ﷺ said, "Indeed, Allāh ﷻ will raise up in this nation at the beginning of every century someone who will renew their religion."⁷ The scholars agreed that the Mujaddid of the first century was Sayyidnā ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and of the second century was our Imām Muhammad ibn ʾIdrīs ash-Shāfiʿī. Imām ʾAbū Bakr al-Bayhaqī stated, "We do not know anyone more worthy of this characteristic except for ash-Shāfiʿī, for he is the one whose books were written down, his statements memorised, his mention spread into the horizons, and the spread of his knowledge will only increase as the days pass."⁸ He was furthermore the first to compose a work in Usūl al-Fiqh, namely al-Risālah, by the unanimous agreement of scholars, and Imām Jamāl ad-Dīn al-ʾIsnawī affirmed, "Our Imām ash-Shāfiʿī was the inventor of this science without any dispute and the first to author a book in it by unanimous agreement."⁹

Footnotes

1. It should be noted that his attributive nisbahs reflect the full arc of his life: al-Ghazzī for his birthplace, al-Makkī for his upbringing, al-Hijāzī for his formative years of study, and ash-Shāfiʿī for the Madhab he founded. ↩

2. The connection is further strengthened from the maternal side: the mother of as-Sāʾib, the fifth ancestor of ash-Shāfiʿī, is ash-Shifāʾ Bint al-Arqam ibn Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf, and the mother of ʿAbd Yazīd, his seventh ancestor, is ash-Shifāʾ Bint Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf. Thus ash-Shāfiʿī is the maternal cousin of Sayyidnā Muhammad ﷺ as well. ↩

3. Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 4229. ↩

4. Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa al-Lughāt, 1/44. ↩

5. The Hadīth has been transmitted through numerous routes. Imām al-Bayhaqī stated, "When the different transmissions of this Hadīth are combined, they together acquire much strength." [Manāqib ash-Shāfiʿī, 1/27]. Imām ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī added, "What also strengthens this Hadīth is it being well-known among the early scholars." [Tawālī at-Taʾsīs, 1/44]. Its overall grading is Hasan li Ghayrihī. ↩

6. Madkhal ilā Sunan al-Kubrā, 1/25. ↩

7. Sunan ʾAbī Dāwūd, 4291. This Hadīth has been authenticated by major Hadīth scholars of the early and later periods. Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūtī stated that there is Ittifāq of the Huffādh on its authenticity. ↩

8. Maʿrifat as-Sunan wa al-Āthār, 1/206. ↩

9. At-Tamhīd fī Takhrīj al-Furūʿ ʿalā al-ʾUsūl, 1/45. ↩