 Firstly, he is one of the Imams of Sacred Law whose school of jurisprudence has survived (i.e. can be followed).

 His unique lineage as a cousin of the Prophet (Peace and Mercy of Allah be upon him), descending from al-Muttalib who is the brother of Hashim, `Abd al-Muttalib’s father.

 Also, regarding his Qurashi lineage, scholars have said (among them is mentioned Imam Ahmad) that the following hadith refers to him: “O Allah! Guide Quraysh, for the science of the scholar that comes from them will encompass the earth. O Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward.” (Hafith Ibn Ḥajr and Al-Bayhaqi said that the chains are strong with all corroborating narrations together and Ibn Hazm declared it Sahīh in his Al-Iḥkām 6:286.)

 Another hadith of the Prophet says: “Truly, Allah shall send forth for this Community, at the onset of every hundred years, someone who will renew their Religion for them.” Scholars have mentioned that the first was`Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz (i.e. after first 100 years) and the second was Imam al-Shafi`i (after second 100 years). (A sound hadīth by agreement of the masters of hadīth see footnote 445 of The Four Imams by G.f. Haddad, this is the wording of Abu Dawud in his Sunan from his chapter on Malāhim number 3740, Al-Hafith Zayn ud dīn al-‘Irāqī stated, ‘Its chain is Sahīh’)

 Another unique aspect of the Imam: he was born in a Sacred Land (Gaza or Asqalan, both of which are in al-Sham), then at the age of two was taken to be raised and educated in another Sacred Land (Mecca), then at the age of thirteen went to be further educated in a third Sacred Land (Medina).

 He possessed a very strong memory. As such, he memorized the Qur’an at age seven, then Imam Malik’s Muwatta’ at age ten. There are also other stories mentioned about his exceptional memory.

 Growing up in Mecca he was a student of great Imams and scholars such as: Sufyan b. Uyayna, Muslim b. Khalid al-Zinji, Sa’eed b. Salim al-Qadah, Dawud b. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Attar and ‘Abd al-Majeed b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Abi Dawud (Allah be pleased with them). In other words, he knew well the Fiqh and knowledge of Mecca.

 After going to Medina, the City of the Prophet (Peace and Mercy of Allah be upon him), he was then a student of the great Imam Malik for many years and also learned from Ibrahim b. Sa’eed al-Ansari, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Muhammad al-Darawirdi and ‘Abdullah b. Nafi’ al-Saa’i’ (Allah be pleased with them). In other words, he knew well the Fiqh and knowledge of Medina.

 He also travelled to Yemen and learned from scholars such as: Mutraf b. Mazin, Hisham b. Yusuf (Qadi of San’aa), ‘Amr b. Abi Salama (companion of the great Mujtahid Imam al-Awza’i) and Yahya b. Hassan (companion of the great Mujtahid Imam al-Layth b. Sa’d) Allah be pleased with them. In other words, he knew well the Fiqh and knowledge of Yemen).

 He also travelled to Iraq and learned from Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani (one of the two main companions of the great Mujtahid Imam Abu Hanifa). Also, Waki’ b. al-Jarrah, Hammad b. Usama and ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. ‘Abd al-Majeed (Allah be pleased with them). In other words, he knew well the Fiqh and knowledge of Iraq.

 In the last part of his life he travelled to Egypt, in which he would have come in contact with the some students of the great Imam al-Layth Allah be pleased with him.

 He obviously knew the evidences used by the various Imams and their methodologies for deriving rulings. Since he was well versed in all of these schools of Fiqh it is difficult to say “well, if he only knew the proofs and arguments used by so and so, he may have also become convinced of that position…etc.”

 He possessed vast knowledge of the various Islamic Sciences, including knowledge of Prophetic Narrations. This can be seen from Imam al-Bayhaqi’s seven volume book of hadith (Ma’rifah al-Sunan wa al-Athar) pertaining to legal matters, in which it seems that most of his chains of narration go through Imam al-Shafi’i.

 He (himself) founded his school of Sacred Law and authored/dictated texts in Fiqh (e.g. al-Hujja, al-Hurmala, al-Imla, al-Umm, etc. and there are also the summarized works from two of his main students and transmitters of his school; al-Muzani and al-Buwaiti), so his positions on various issues were well known (as opposed to his school and rulings being derived after his time; as in the school of Imam Ahmad-Allah be pleased with him).

 He (himself) also authored/dictated texts in Legal Methodology (e.g. al-Risalah), as opposed to his methodological principles being derived after his time, based on his responses to various questions (as in the school of Imam Ahmad-Allah be pleased with him).

 He is considered to be the “Father of Legal Methodology” (Usul-al-Fiqh) since he was the first to record and develop that branch of knowledge. His book al-Risalah is considered the foundation of Islamic jurisprudence.

 His school of Sacred Law was well preserved after him and large numbers of great scholars developed the school and added rulings based on the methodological principles of the Imam, to the point where it seems difficult to find an issue concerning which Shafi’i scholars did not discuss.

 Great scholars from each field of Islamic Sciences also followed the school, including numerous great hufadh and Imams and of hadith such as al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, al-Daraqutni, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-Nawawi, Al-‘Izz b. ‘AbduSalam, ibn Kathir, al-Dhahabi, Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, As-Suyuti, etc.

 Numerous rulings, on issues which do not necessarily fall within the scope of basic Fiqh chapters, are clarified (e.g. within books such as al-Adhkar, Sharh Sahih Muslim, various books of legal verdicts and even from the chapter headings of Riyadh al-Saliheen).

 Although all the schools of Sacred Law have differences of opinion (i.e. regarding a specific ruling, within a single school) later scholars of the Shafi’i school have clearly explained what should be regarded as the “relied upon” positions of the school (i.e. the conclusions of al-Rafi’i and al-Nawawi- Allah be pleased with them -the latter given preference if they disagree).

 If a difference of opinion does exist on a given issue, it is generally well known (e.g. through the specific terminology used by Imam al-Nawawi) whether or not a secondary opinion is strong. Examples are the use of the terms الأظهر (most apparent) vs. المشهور (well known) and الأصح (stronger) vs. الصحيح (correct), and the term قيل (it has been said), etc. Furthermore, through such terminology it is known whether the difference occurs between the Jurists of the school, or stems from differing transmissions of the Imams position, etc.

 The Shafi’i school seems to strike an effective balance regarding the use of qiyas (legal analogy); between excessive use (in preference to relevant texts which exist on a particular issue, as some have been criticized for) vs. complete lack thereof (as attempted by the Dhahiri school).

 Scholars of the school have mentioned that the doors are not completely closed for followers of the school to follow the positions of other Imams. Furthermore, even the particulars of how and when this can be done are clarified (e.g. in “Reliance of the Traveller” under “following another Imam” in the notes and appendices and in the introduction to al-Nawawi’s “Majmoo’”)

 The Shafi’i school is very widespread and can be easily learned with local teachers or by traveling to scholars overseas (e.g. al-Sham, Yemen, Egypt, Malaysia, etc.) or even on-line (e.g. Qibla, Seekers Guidance, Cordoba Academy, etc.)

 Also, questions can get answered easily by local teachers or on-line (eg. Sh. Hamza Karamali and Sh. AbdulKarim Yahya of Qibla; ShafiiFiqh.com shaykhs; Qibla and Seekers Guidance Q & A sections, etc.)

Scholarly quotes regarding Imam al-Shafi’i (Allah be pleased with him ):
(*For these quotes & more see: “The Four Imams and Their Schools” by Dr. Gibril Haddad)
 Abu `Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: “If the intelligence of an entire nation was brought together he would have encompassed it.”
 al-Muzani said: “I have been looking into al-Shafi`i’s Risala for fifty years, and I do not recall a single time I looked at it without learning some new benefit.”
 Al-Sakhawi in the introduction to his al-Jawahir wa al-Durar and others narrate that someone criticized Ahmad ibn Hanbal for attending the fiqh sessions of al-Shafi`i and leaving the hadith sessions of Sufyan ibn `Uyayna. Ahmad replied: “Keep quiet! If you miss a hadith with a shorter chain you can find it elsewhere with a longer chain and it will not harm you. But if you do not have the reasoning of this man [al-Shafi`i], I fear you will never be able to find it elsewhere.”
 Ibn ‘Abdul Barr related in his Al-Intiqā’ from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal that he said of him, “He was like the sun over the world and good health for people – do these two have replacements or successors?”
 Ahmad ibn Hanbal also said: “Not one of the scholars of hadith touched an inkwell nor a pen except he owed a huge debt to al-Shafi`i.”
 Yunus ibn Abi Ya`la said: “Whenever al-Shafi`i went into tafsîr, it was as if he had witnessed the revelation.”
 Ibn ‘Abd al-Salām said that there is not a single hadith that did not reach al-Shāfī’ī in one form or another, whether musnad, mursal, or munqati’. (Ibn Kathīr in his Bidāyah 10:276 )
 Imām Al-Bayhaqī narrated: [From Al-Rabī’]: Al-Shāfi’ī was an ‘Arab in his soul and an Arab in his speech. If you had seen him and seen the beauty of his expression and eloquence you would have been awestruck. If he had authored his books in the way that he used to speak, no one would have been able to read them.” (Manāqib 1:19 )
 Bayhaqi narrated from Ibn Hisham: I was al-Shafi`i’s sitting-companion for a long time, and I never heard him use except a word which, carefully considered, one would not find (in its context) a better word in the entire Arabic language.
 Bayhaqi narrated from al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Za`farani: A group of edouins used to frequent al-Shafi`i’s gathering with us and sit in a corner. One day I asked their leader: “You are not interested in scholarship; why do you keep coming to sit with us?” They said: “We come to hear al-Shafi`i’s language.”
 At the age of fifteen, his knowledge was so thorough, Muslim Ibn Khalid Al-Zinji, the Mufti of Makkah, told him: “O Abu Abdullah, give fatawa (religious rulings), for by Allah it is time for you to do so!”
 Al-Karabissi, a famous scholar of the time of Al-Shafi’i said: “I have seen nothing nobler than Al-Shafi’i’s study sessions. People of hadith used to attend them as well as people of jurisprudence and poetry. Most of the well-known scholars in poetry and linguistics used to visit him, and they would listen to his discourse on all these disciplines.”
 Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī is a Hujjah (proof) in the language of Arabic!” (see Ibn Kathīr’s Tabaqāt Ash-Shāfi’yyīn )
 Yahyā ibn Sa’īd Al-Qattān said: “I supplicate Allah for al-Shāfi’ī even inside my prayer, while Imām Ahmad himself said he made du’ā’ for Imām Al-Shāfi’ī for forty years. ((Ibn Kathīr in his Bidayah as well as his Tabaqāt Ash-Shāfi’īyīn ))

Allah the Exalted knows best

May His Peace and Mercy forever be upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad, and upon his noble family and companions, one and all.

Sources & Further Reading:
 Intro to Al-Risalah of Imam al-Shafi’i; Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi.
 Intro to Minhaj al-Talibeen of Imam al-Nawawi; Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyyah (contains a great discussion and explanation of Imam al-Nawawi’s legal terminology and their meanings)
 Manaqib al-Shafi’i (Virtues of the Imam) of Imam al-Bayhaqi; Maktabah Dar al-Turath
 Al-Madkhal fi Madhab al-Imam al-Shafi’i (Introduction to the Legal School of Imam al-Shafi’i); Dr. Yusuf Umar al-Qawasimi; Dar al-Nafa’is (contains useful information regarding the foundation, transmission and preservation of the Madhab)
 Reliance of the Traveller (contains much info regarding the Shafi’i School, eg. useful information regarding a description of the relied upon position of the school, etc.)
 Shafi’ifiqh.com (Contains a great biography of the Imam and other Shafi’i scholars. English quotes from scholars, general info. etc. taken from this site)
 The Four Imams and Their Schools; Dr. Gibril Haddad (Biographical information on the Imam and others. Many English quotes from the scholars, hadith rulings, etc. taken from this work)
 Ma’rifah al-Sunan wa al-Athar of Imam al-Bayhaqi; Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
 Al-Adhkar & Riyadh al-Saliheen of al-Nawawi’ (legal comments & chapter headings, etc.)
 Shafifiqh.wordpress.com (useful info. about the Shafi’i Madhab)
 Sh. Abdul-Karim Yahya, Farid Dingle and Mohamed Elcott (Qibla Academy for the Islamic Sciences; Intro to the following courses: Essentials of Islam (al-Risalah al-Jami’ah) & Introduction to Islamic Worship (al-Maqasid)

There is an interesting passage about the strength and praise of the Shafi’i maddhab in the English translation of the book by Shah Waliullah rahimullah “Al-Insaf fi Bayaan Sabab al-Ikhtilaf (Difference of opinion in Fiqh, in English), pp. 77/78, for those interested.

On imam al-Bukhari Shah Waliullah said “although he was affiliated to Shafi’i and agreed with him in most of (the principles of) Fiqh, he disagreed with him in many things. (But) what he did on his own is not considered as part of Shafi’i's madhhab. As for Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, both of them are mujtahid’s affiliated to Ahmad (b. Hanbal) and Ishaq, and similarly we think of Ibn Majah and al-Darimi, and Allah knows best.” (pag. 78)

In Sunna Notes Vol. I by G.F. Haddad there is a whole chapter called “Madhahib of the Imams of Hadith” (pp. 48 – 53). On pag. 49 it is said: “In reality, al-Bukhari is a Mujtahid Mutlaq (..) with his own madhhab.” For more info, also on the other mentioned scholars, I refer to that book as it clarifies a lot, w’alhamdulillah.

CONTACT OF MAN AND WOMAN’S SKIN

e7.3 The third cause of minor ritual impurity is when any, no matter how little, of the two skins of a man and woman touch(N: husband or wife, for example) when they are not each other’s unmarriagable kin (Ar.mahram, def:m6), even if they touch without sexual desire, or unintentionally, and even if with tongue or a nonfunctional or surplus limb; though touching does not include contact with teeth, nails, hair, or a severed limb.

Ablution is also nullified by touching an aged person or a corpse (N: of the opposite sex) but not by touching a member of one’s unmarriagble kin, or a child who is younger than the age that usually evokes sexual interest.

One’s ablution is not nullified when one is uncertain about:

1. whether one touched a male or a female;
2. whether one touched hair or skin;
3. or whether the person one touched was of one’s marriagable kin or not.

[End Quote]

..if touching took place with a BARRIER in between, then wudu is still intact and is not nullified.

mustafa asked,

‘Akhi abul layth I was listening to an answer by Bilal phillips to a man speaking about madhahib (now note I have no problem with the madhahib) but what about one who is shafii and makes hajj but with all the people he is bound to touch a woman, then he has to go away find water come back and probably touches another woman.’

Ibn Hajar Haytami(rah), quoted in Umdatul Salik[Shafi'i fiqh book], under section-w14.1,Following Another Imam In Legal Rulings, says regarding following a dispensation

(3)” to intend by following the other Imam to take a dispensation when there is a NEED FOR IT(N: such as a Shafi’i circumambulating the Kaaba at a crowded Hajj(dis:j5.16(b)) who follows the position of Abu Hanifa that touching a woman does not nullify one’s ablution), in which case it is permissible to follow the other Imam…”

Shaykh Ibn Naqib al Misri(rah), the author of Umdatul Salik, says from j5.16(b)under section The Conditions Of A Valid Circumambulation:

” ritual purity (o: from minor (hadath) and major (janab)impurity) (n: though for Hanafis, touch a marriagable member of the opposite sex(N: despite it being unlawful) does not nullify one’s ablution(Maraqi al-falah sharah Nur al-idah(y126),17, and considering the difficulty of avoiding it at a contemporary hajj, taking the dispensation seems a virtual necessity)..”

Wallahu 3alam

The following website is for you and anyone else who wishes to strengthen their Modern Standard Arabic:

http://afl.sakhr.com/

You must register before you can view the content. Registration is free.

-Ibn Ahmad

One Way
1)Purchase Aisha Bewley’s translation of Tafsir Al-Qurtubi. She has only translated up to Al-Baqara to date.
2)Go to http://www.altafsir.com (Arabic section)
3)Select Tafsir Al-Qurtubi
4)Select any ayah from suras 1-2.
5)Translate it using Hans Wehr
6)Compare your translation to Sayyida Aisha’s translation

Another Way
1)Purchase Arabic Bidayat Al-Mujtahid
2)Purchase English Bidayat Al-Mujtahid
3)Translate using Hans Wehr and compare your translations to the professionals

Tales from Kalila and Dimna is also popular, though I have never read it. I don’t think it’s been translated though.

Also, make sure you read and translate short articles from the Al-Jazeera website. There are no translations of Al-Jazeera articles, so you’re on your own there. Nevertheless, balance your classical arabic learning with modern standard arabic.

Insha’Allah that helps.

Shukran Akhi
-Ibn Ahmad