Al-Shafi‘i

Al-Shafi‘i

Al-Shafi'i (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-Shāfiʿī; IPA: [a(l) ʃaːfiʕiː] ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, having authored one of the earliest work on the subject: al-Risala. His legacy and teaching on the matter provided it with a systematic form, thereby "fundamentally influenc[ing] the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact," and "begin[ning] a new phase of the development of legal theory." Being born in Gaza, Palestine to the Banu Muttalib clan of the Quraysh tribe, he was relocated at the age of two and raised in Mecca. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Al-Shafi‘i has received more than 778,083 page views. His biography is available in 61 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 58 in 2019). Al-Shafi‘i is the most popular lawyer (up from 2nd in 2019).

Al-Shafi‘i is most famous for his contribution to Islamic jurisprudence, specifically the development of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence.