Imam Asy-Syafi'i

Muhammad bin Idris Asy-Shafi'i (150–204 H) was born in Gaza from a lineage that met the Prophet ﷺ. Orphaned and poor since childhood, he memorized the Koran at the age of seven and Al-Muwaththa' at the age of ten, then studied with Imam Malik in Medina.

Through his book Ar-Risala, Syafi'i became the first person to compile the standard rules of ushul fiqh - a systematic way of practicing law from the Al-Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma' and qiyas. He bridged the schools of hadith experts and ra'yi experts.

After moving to Egypt and discovering new realities and hadith, Syafi'i reviewed some of his opinions, so that they became known as qaul qadim (old opinion in Iraq) and qaul Jadid (new opinion in Egypt). This shows scientific honesty and an attitude of following arguments, not prestige.

Syafi'i is a very intelligent person, an expert in language and poetry, and has noble character and humility. He said, "Knowledge is not something that is memorized, but that which is useful," and emphasized manners above knowledge. His verses of advice have been studied to this day.

His famous principle, "If a hadith is valid, then that is my mazhab," emphasizes that the proposition is above the taqlid. He taught people to always return to the Koran and Sunnah.

Syafi'i died in Egypt in 204 AH. His school became the guide of the majority of Muslims in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Southeast Asia including the archipelago, and became the mainstay of the Islamic boarding school fiqh curriculum.