Biography Imam Syafie

Ancestry

Al-Shfi belonged to the Qurayshi clan Banu Muttalib, which was the sister clan of the Banu Hashim to
which the Prophet Muhammad and the Abbasid caliphs belonged. This lineage may have given him
prestige, arising from his belonging to the tribe of the Prophet and his great-grandfather's kinship to the
Prophet.[7] However, al-Shfi grew up in poverty in spite of his connections in the highest social circles.

Early life

Al-Shfi was born in Gaza by the town of Asqalan on 767 CE.[8] His father died in Syria while he was still
a child. Fearing the waste of his sharf lineage, his mother decided to move to Mecca when he was about
two years old. Furthermore, his maternal family roots were from Yemen, and there were more members
of his family in Mecca, where his mother believed he would better be taken care of. Little is known
about al-Shfi's early life in Mecca, except that he was brought up in poor circumstances and that from
his youth he was devoted to learning.[7] An account states that his mother could not afford to buy him
paper, so he would write his lessons on bones, particularly shoulder-bones.[9] 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-
Shfi.[10] By the age of seven, al-Shfi had memorized the Noble Qur'n. 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-Shfi was authorized to issue fatwas at the age of fifteen.[11]

Apprenticeship under Imam Mlik

Al-Shfi moved to Medina in a desire for further legal training,[7] 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,[8] while another stated that he was in his twenties.[7] There, he was taught for many years by
the famous Imam Malik ibn Anas,[12] who was impressed with his memory, knowledge and
intelligence.[8][13] By the time of Imam Mlik's death in 795 CE, al-Shfi had already gained a
reputation as a brilliant jurist.[7] Even though he would later disagree with some of the views of Imam
Mlik, al-Shfi accorded the deepest respect to him by always referring to him as "the Teacher".[8]

The Yemeni Fitna

At the age of thirty, al-Shfi was appointed as the Abbasid governor in the Yemeni city of Najran.[8][12]
He proved to be a just administrator, but soon became entangled with factional jealousies. In 803 CE, al-
Shfi was accused of aiding the 'Alaws in a revolt, and was thus summoned in chains with a number of
'Alawis to the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid at Raqqa.[7] Whilst other conspirators were put to death, al-
Shafi'is own eloquent defense convinced the Caliph to dismiss the charge. Other accounts state that the
famous Hanafi jurist, Muammad ibn al-asan al-Shaybn, was present at the court and defended al-
Shfi as a well-known student of the sacred law.[7] What was certain was that the incident brought al-
Shfi in close contact with al-Shaybn, who would soon become his teacher. 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.

Apprenticeship under Al-Shaybn and The Exposure to Hanaf Jurists

Al-Shfi' traveled to Baghdad to study with Abu Hanifa's acolyte al-Shaybn and others.[12] It was here
that he developed his first madh'hab, influenced by the teachings of both Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam
Malik.[citation needed] His work thus became known as al Madhhab al Qadim lil Imam as Shafii, or
the Old School of ash-Shafi'i.[citation needed]

It was here that al-Shfi' actively participated in legal arguments with the Hanaf jurists, strenuously
defending the Mlik school of thought.[7] Some authorities stress the difficulties encountered by him in
his arguments.[7] Al-Shfi' eventually left Baghdad for Mecca in 804 CE, possibly because of complaints
by Hanaf followers to al-Shaybn that al-Shafi'i had become somewhat critical of al-Shaybn's position
during their disputes. As a result, al-Shfi' reportedly participated in a debate with al-Shaybn over
their differences, though who won the debate is disputed.[7]

In Mecca, al-Shfi' began to lecture at the Sacred Mosque, leaving a deep impression on many students
of law, including the famous Hanbali jurist, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.[7] Al-Shfi''s legal reasoning began to
mature, as he started to appreciate the strength in the legal reasoning of the Hanaf jurists, and became
aware of the weaknesses inherent in both the Mlik and Hanaf schools of thought.[7]

Departure to Baghdad and Egypt

Al-Shfi' 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.[7] Caliph Al-Ma'mun is
said to have offered al-Shfi' a position as a judge, but al-Shfi' declined the offer.[7]

In 814 CE, al-Shfi' decided to leave Baghdad for Egypt, although the precise reasons for his departure
are uncertain. It was in Egypt that al-Shfi' dictated his life's works to students. Several of his leading
disciples would write down what al-Shfi' said, who would then have them read it back aloud so that
corrections could be made.[7] Al-Shfi' biographers all agree that the legacy of works under his name
are the result of those sessions with his disciples.[7]

Death

At least one authority states that al-Shfi' died as a result of injuries sustained from an attack by
supporters of a Maliki follower named Fityan. The story goes that al-Shfi' triumphed in argument over
Fityan, who, being intemperate, resorted to abuse. The Governor of Egypt, with whom al-Shafi'i had
good relations, ordered Fityan punished by having him paraded through the streets of the city carrying a
plank and stating the reason for his punishment. Fityan's supporters were enraged by this treatment,
and attacked Shafi'i in retaliation after one of his lectures. Al-Shafi'i died a few days later.[14] However,
al-Shfi' was also known to have suffered from a serious intestinal illness, which kept him frail and ailing
during the later years of his life. The precise cause of his death is thus unknown.

Al-Shfi' died at the age of 54 on the 30th of Rajab in 204 AH (20 January 820 AD) in al-Fustat, Egypt,
and was buried in the vault of the Ban Abd al-Hakam, near Mount al-Muqattam. The qubba was built
in 1212/608 by the Ayyubid Al-Kamil, and the mausoleum remains an important site today.

Biography Imam Hanbali

Early life and family

Legal writings, produced October 879.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal's family was originally from Basra, Iraq, and belonged to the Arab Banu Shayban
tribe.His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khurasan and later settled with his family in
Baghdad, where Ahmad was born in 780 CE.[2]

Ibn Hanbal had two wives and several children, including an older son, who later became a judge in
Isfahan.

Education and Work

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal studied extensively in Baghdad, and later traveled to further his education. He
started learning jurisprudence (Fiqh) under the celebrated Hanafi judge, Abu Yusuf, the renowned
student and companion of Imam Abu Hanifah. After finishing his studies with Abu Yusuf, ibn Hanbal
began traveling through Iraq, Syria, and Arabia to collect hadiths, or traditions of the Prophet
Muhammad. Ibn al-Jawzi states that Imam Ahmad had 414 Hadith masters whom he narrated from.
With this knowledge, he became a leading authority on the hadith, leaving an immense encyclopedia of
hadith, the al-Musnad. After several years of travel, he returned to Baghdad to study Islamic law under
Al-Shafi'i. He became a mufti in his old age, but is remembered most famously, as the founder of the
Hanbali madhab or school of Islamic law, which is now most dominant in Saudi Arabia, Qatar as well as
the United Arab Emirates.[11][12][13] Unlike the other three schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi,
Maliki, and Shafi), the Hanbali madhab remained largely traditionalist or Athari in theology.[14]

In addition to his scholastic enterprises, ibn Hanbal was a soldier on the Islamic frontiers (Ribat) and
made Hajj five times in his life, twice on foot.[15]

Death
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal died on Friday, 12 Rabi-ul-I, 241 AH/ 2nd August, 855 at the age of 74-75 in Baghdad,
Iraq. Historians relate that his funeral was attended by 800,000 men and 60,000 women and that 20,000
Christians and Jews converted to Islam on that day.