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Al-Shafi'i's Risala: Foundation of Islamic Legal Theory

c. 810-814 CE · Late Antiquity

LawReligionPhilosophy

Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i authored Kitab ar-Risala fi Usul al-Fiqh (The Book of the Treatise on the Principles of Jurisprudence) around 810-814 CE in Fustat. The work established formal principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), systematically outlining methodology for deriving Islamic law and establishing the hierarchy of legal sources: the Quran, the Sunnah (prophetic traditions), consensus (ijma), and analogical reasoning (qiyas). Al-Shafi'i's framework balanced textual authority with methodological flexibility, influencing all subsequent Islamic legal schools and providing foundations for Islamic jurisprudence that continue shaping Muslim legal thought.

Key Figures

Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i

Locations

Fustat

Topics

Islamic Lawjurisprudencelegal theoryIslamic Golden Age

Connected Events — 1 Connection

Al-Shafi'i's Risala established the systematic methodology that all four major Sunni legal schools (including his own Shafi'i school) adopted as their foundation for deriving Islamic law, creating the standardized jurisprudential framework that enabled their formal codification Formation of the Four Schools of Islamic Law

c. 750-850 CE · Law · Late Antiquity

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