Muslims Till Death:
ASSALAMU ALAYKUM WARAHMATULLAH WABARAKAATUHU . LET'S START TONIGHT'S EDUCATION. OUR TOPIC IS 👇. *THE STORY OF IMMAM AL-SHAFI'I (Episode 1)*___*PAGE 1*____
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The biography of al-Shāfi‘i is difficult to trace. Dawud al-Zahiri was said to be the first to write such a biography, but the book has been lost. The oldest surviving biography goes back to Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (died 327 AH/939 CE) and is no more than a collection of anecdotes, some of them fantastical. A biographical sketch was written by Zakarīya b. Yahya al-Sājī was later reproduced, but even then, a great deal of legend had already crept into the story of al-Shāfi‘i's life.
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The first real biography is by Ahmad Bayhaqi (died 458 AH/1066 CE) and is filled with what a modernist eye would qualify as pious legends. The following is what seems to be a sensible reading, according to a modern reductionist perspective. Al-Shāfi‘ī belonged to the Qurayshi clan of Banu Muttalib, which was the sister clan of the Banu Hashim, to which the Prophet and the 'Abbasid caliphs belonged. This lineage may have given him prestige, arising from his belonging to the tribe of Muhammad pbuh, and his great-grandfather's kinship to him.
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However, al-Shāfi‘ī grew up in poverty, in spite of his connections in the highest social circles. He was born in Gaza by the town of Asqalan in 150 AH (767 CE). His father died in Ash-Sham while he was still a child. Fearing the waste of his sharīf lineage, his mother decided to move to Mecca when he was about two years old. Furthermore, his maternal family roots were from Al-Yemen, and there were more members of his family in Mecca, where his mother believed he would better be taken care of.
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Little is known about al-Shāfi‘ī's early life in Mecca, except that he was brought up in poor circumstances and that from his youth he was devoted to learning. An account states that his mother could not afford to buy his paper, so he would write his lessons on bones, particularly shoulder-bones. He studied under Muslim ibn Khalid az-Zanji, the Mufti of Mecca then, who is thus considered to be the first teacher of Imam al-Shāfi‘ī. By the age of seven, al-Shāfi‘ī had memorized the Qur’an.
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At ten, he had committed Imam Malik's Muwatta' to heart, at which time his teacher would deputize him to teach in his absence. Al-Shāfi‘ī was authorized to issue fatwas at the age of fifteen .. Al-Shāfi‘ī moved to Al-Medinah in a desire for further legal training, as was the tradition of acquiring knowledge. Accounts differ on the age in which he set out to Medina; an account placed his age at thirteen, while another stated that he was in his twenties. There, he was taught for many years by the famous Imam Malik ibn Anas, who was impressed with his memory, knowledge and intelligence.
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By the time of Imam Mālik's death in 179 AH (795 CE), al-Shāfi‘ī had already gained a reputation as a brilliant jurist. Even though he would later disagree with some of the views of Imam Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī accorded the deepest respect to him by always referring to him as "the Teacher". At the age of thirty, al-Shāfi‘ī was appointed as the ‘Abbasid governor in the Yemeni city of Najran. He proved to be a just administrator but soon became entangled with factional jealousies.
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In 803 CE, al-Shāfi‘ī was accused of aiding the 'Alids in an Alid revolt, and was thus summoned in chains with a number of 'Alids to the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid at Raqqa. Whilst other conspirators were put to death, al-Shafi'i's own eloquent defense convinced the Caliph to dismiss the charge. Other accounts state that the famous Hanafi jurist, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, was present at the court and defended al-Shāfi‘ī as a well-known student of the sacred law. What was certain was that the incident brought al-Shāfi‘ī in close contact with al-Shaybānī, who would soon become his teacher.
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It was also postulated that this unfortunate incident impelled him to devote the rest of his career to legal studies, never again to seek government service. Al-Shāfi'ī traveled to Baghdad to study with Abu Hanifah's acolyte al-Shaybānī and others. It was here that he developed his first madh'hab, influenced by the teachings of both Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik. Ais work thus became known as "al Madhhab al Qadim lil Imam as Shafi’i," or the Old School of al-Shafi'i.
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In Mecca, al-Shāfi'ī began to lecture at the Sacred Mosque, leaving a deep impression on many students of law, including the famous Hanbali jurist, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. Al-Shāfi'ī's legal reasoning began to mature, as he started to appreciate the strength in the legal reasoning of the Hanafī jurists, and became aware of the weaknesses inherent in both the Mālikī and Hanafī schools of thought.Al-Shāfi'ī eventually returned to Baghdad in 810 CE. By this time, his stature as a jurist had grown sufficiently to permit him to establish an independent line of legal speculation.
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Caliph Al-Ma'mun is said to have offered al-Shāfi'ī a position as a judge, but he declined the offer. In 814 CE, al-Shāfi'ī decided to leave Baghdad for Egypt. The precise reasons for his departure from Iraq are uncertain, but it was in Egypt that he would meet another tutor, Sayyida Nafisa bint Al-Hasan, who would also financially support his studies, and where he would dictate his life's works to students. Several of his leading disciples would write down what al-Shāfi'ī said, who would then have them read it back aloud so that corrections could be made.
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Questions, Suggestions and grievances on or to better this program is welcome. *We shall continue tomorrow on this story in Sha Allah*. May Allah azza wa jalla make us steadfast in faith. May HE accept our ibaadaat and grant us the Good in this World and the Hereafter. May HE guide, forgive and grant us Jannah...AMIN.
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