Al-Shafi‘i

Al-Shafi‘i

Al-Shafi'i (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-Shāfiʿī; IPA: [a(l) ʃaːfiʕiː] ;767–820 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic 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 influencing the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact,": 270  and "beginning a new phase of the development of legal theory.": 239–273  Being born in Gaza, Palestine, to the Banu Muttalib clan of the Quraysh tribe, he relocated at the age of two and was raised in Mecca. He later resided in Medina, Yemen, Baghdad in Iraq, and Egypt, and also served as a judge for some time in Najran. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Al-Shafi‘i has received more than 780,270 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.