Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ AR | EN | UR

The Shafi'i school (madhhab)

المذهب الشافعي

al-Shafi'i's school — second widest in ra'y after the Hanafis 1, famous for rejecting istihsan: 'whoever exercises istihsan has legislated' 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Arabia · Egypt & Nile
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Sects and schoolsDevelopment of law, theology and institutions

Overview

The Shafi'i school is the school of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i. Ahmad Amin counts it the second widest of the schools in its use of opinion, after the Hanafi. 3

Istihsan

Ahmad Amin reports that the Shafi'is rejected the istihsan that the Hanafis upheld, and transmits a saying of al-Shafi'i in disapproval: "Whoever practises istihsan has made a law." 4

Not covered here: its principles, its books and its spread; a second source is needed.

Connections

Explore the connections

Founded by
محمد بن إدريس الشافعي

People and things also explored

Ahmad ibn Hanbal· Muwatta 77· Muwatta 88· Muwatta 540· Muwatta 584· Muwatta 587· Muwatta 615· Muwatta 629

Sources

  1. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p. 502
  2. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p. 504
  3. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p.502
  4. Duha al-Islam — Ahmad Amin (Hindawi 2012), p.504
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Shafi'i school (madhhab)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/group/shafii-madhhab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Related

Ahmad ibn Hanbal

An imam and hadith scholar who compiled the Musnad; eponym of the Hanbali school, which gives precedence to the revealed text and transmitted reports. He wrote only one treatise on jurisprudence, on prayer, while his students wrote more than thirty volumes of his words and fatwas.