Al-Shafi`i
On Legal Knowledge
ed. OmarKN
Excerpt from his Risala
29. Someone asked ...: What is [legal] knowledge and how much should men know of
it?
30. Shafiʿi replied: Legal knowledge is of two kinds: one is for the general
public, and no sober and mature person should be ignorant of it.
31. He asked: For example?
32. [Shafiʿi] replied: For example, that the daily prayers are five, that men
owe it to Allah to fast the month of Ramadan, to make the pilgrimage to the
[Sacred] House whenever they are able, and to [pay] the legal alms in their
estate; that He [Allah] has prohibited usury, adultery, homicide, theft, [the
drinking of] wine, and [everything] of that sort which He has obligated men to
comprehend, to perform, to pay in their property, and to abstain from [because]
He has forbidden it to them.
This kind of knowledge may be found textually in the Book of Allah, or may be
found generally among the people of Islam. The public relates it from the
preceding public and ascribes it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, nobody ever questioning
its ascription or its binding force upon them. It is the kind of knowledge which
admits of error neither in its narrative nor in its interpretation; it is not
permissible to question it.
33. He asked: What is the second kind?
34. Shafiʿi replied: It consists of the detailed duties and rules obligatory on
men, concerning which there exists neither a text in the Book of Allah, nor
regarding most of them, a Sunna. Whenever a Sunna exists [in this case], it is
of the kind related by few authorities, not by the public, and is subject to
different interpretations arrived at by analogy.
35. He asked: Is [legal] knowledge on this kind as obligatory as the other, or is
it not obligatory so that he who acquires such knowledge performs a
supererogatory act, and he who neglects it falls not into error? Or, is there a
third kind, derived from a narrative (khabar) or analogy?
36. [Shafiʿi] replied: There is a third kind [of knowledge].
37. He asked: Will you explain it, give its source, and state what [portion] of
it is obligatory, and on whom it is binding and on whom it is not binding?
38. [Shafiʿi] replied: The public is incapable of knowing this kind of
knowledge, nor can all specialists obtain it. But those who do obtain it should
not all neglect it. If some can obtain it, the others are relieved of the duty
[of obtaining it]; but those who do obtain it will be rewarded.
ON THE OBLIGATION OF MAN TO ACCEPT THE AUTHORITY OF THE PROPHET
A Declaration Concerning the Duty Imposed by Allah, as Laid Down in His Book,
[Ordering Men] To Follow the Prophetʿs Sunna
86. Shafiʿi said: Allah has placed His Messenger —[in relation to] His religion, His
commands and His Book—in the position made clear by Him as a distinguishing
standard of His religion by imposing the duty of obedience to Him as well as
prohibiting disobedience to Him. He has made His merits evident by associating
belief in His Messenger with the belief in Him. For Allah, Blessed and Most High,
said:
{So believe in Allah and His Prophets, and do not say: “Three.” Refrain; [it will
be] better for you. Allah is only one God. Glory be to Him. His having a son is
something alien to him }[Quran, Sura IV, 169].
And He said:
{The believers are only those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and who
when they are with him on some common affair do not go away until they ask his
permission }[Quran, Sura XXIV, 62].
Thus [Allah] prescribed that the perfect beginning of the faith, to which all
other things are subordinate, shall be the belief in Him and then in His
Messenger. For if a person believes only in Him, not in His Messenger, the name of
the perfect faith will never apply to him until he believes in His Messenger
together with Him.
So the Messenger laid down the Sunna [of reciting the Prophetʿs name together with
that of Allāh] for testing the faith of every man [as the following tradition
indicates]:
Malik b. Anas told us from Hilal b. Usama from Ataʿ b. Yasar from Umar b. al-Hakam,
who said:
I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with a slave-girl and I asked him: ‘I have taken an
oath [to free a slave]; may I free her?ʿ ‘Where is Allah?ʿ the Messenger asked her.
‘In heaven,ʿ she answered. ‘And who am I?ʿ asked he. ‘You are the Messenger of
Allah,ʿ she answered. ‘You may free her,ʿ [the Prophet] said.
[The transmitterʿs name, Umar b. al-Hakam — Shafiʿi says—should read Muʿawiya b.
al-Hakam, for Malik, I believe, has not correctly reported the name, as others
did.
87. Shafiʿi said: Allah has imposed the duty on men to obey His divine
communications as well as the Sunna of His Messenger. For He said in His Book:
{O our Lord, raise up amongst them an Messenger, one of selves, to recite to them
Thy signs and to teach them the Book and Wisdom and to purify them. Verily Thou
art All-mighty, All-wise }[Quran, Sura II, 123].
And He, glorious be His praise, said:
{And also we have sent among you an Messenger, one of yourselves, to recite to you
our signs, and purify you, to teach you the Book and the Wisdom, and to teach
you what you did not know }[Quran, Sura II, 146].
And He said:
{Allah bestowed a favor upon the believers when He raised up amongst them an
Messenger, one of themselves, to recite His signs to them, to purify them and to
teach them the Book, although they had formerly been in manifest error }[Quran, Sura III, 158].
And He, glorious be His praise, said:
{It is He who has raised up an Messenger among the untutored people, one of their
number to recite to them His signs, to purify them, and to teach them the Book
and the Wisdom, though formerly they had been in manifest error }[Quran, Sura LXII, 2].
And He said:
{But remember the goodness which Allah has shown you and how much of the Book and the Wisdom He has sent down to you to admonish you thereby }[Quran, Sura II, 231].
And He said:
{Allah has sent down to thee the Book and the Wisdom, and has taught thee what thou did not know before; the bounty of Allah towards thee is ever great }[Quran, Sura IV, 113].
And He said:
{And call to mind the signs of Allah and the Wisdom which are recited in your houses; verily Allah is gentle, well-informed }[Quran, Sura XXXIII, 34].
So Allah mentioned His Book—which is the Qurʿan—and Wisdom, and I have heard that
those who are learned in the Quran—whom I approve—hold that Wisdom is the Sunna
of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is like what [Allah Himself] said; but Allah knows best!
For the Quran is mentioned [first], followed by Wisdom; [then] Allah mentioned His
favor to mankind by teaching them the Qurʿan and Wisdom. So it is not
permissible for Wisdom to be called here [anything] save the Sunna of the
Messenger of Allah ﷺ. For [Wisdom] is closely linked to the Book of Allah, and Allah has
imposed the duty of obedience to His Messenger ﷺ, and imposed on men the obligation
to obey his orders. So it is not permissible to regard anything as a duty save
that set forth in the Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger. For [Allah], as we have
[just] stated, prescribed that the belief in His Messenger shall be associated
with the belief in Him.
The Sunna of the Messenger makes evident what God meant [in the text of His Book],
indicating His general and particular [commands]. He associated the Wisdom
[embodied] in the Sunna with his Book, but made it subordinate [to the Book].
Never has Allah done this for any of His creatures save His Messenger.
This excerpt is from Fons Vitae Publ. at:
- expired link (before 2023-02-04) fonsvitae.com/shafii.html
where an English translation by Majid Khadduri is for sale.
