[7] Some Extraordinary Personalities of The First Three Generations

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Imam Ash-Shaafi’ee, may Allah have mercy upon him

Imam Ash-Shaafi’ee was very young when his father passed away. At the age of two his mother took him to Makkah in order that his lineage is not lost. He grew up there, completed memorisation of the Qur’an at the age of seven and memorised the Muwatta of Imam Malik at the age of ten. He acquired Fiqh from Muslim Bin Khalid, may Allah have mercy upon him, who acquired Fiqh from Ibn Jurayh, who acquired Fiqh from Ataa, who acquired Fiqh from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Az-Zubayr and other than them amongst a group of the companions, such as Amr Bin Ali, Ibn Mas’ood, Zayd Bin Thaabit and others, may Allah be pleased with them. He studied under Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy upon him.

Many senior Imams have praised him, such as Abdur Rahman Bin Mahdee, may Allah have mercy upon him, who asked him to write for him a book on the subject matter of Usul. He wrote it. Ibn Mahdee always used to supplicate for him in prayer and said that Ash-Shaafi’ee was similar to his teachers, such as Imam Maalik Bin Anas and Qutaybah Bin Sa’eed, may Allah have mercy upon all of them. Ibn Maahdee also said, “Ash-Shaafiee is an Imam”.
Abu Ubayd, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I have not seen one who is more eloquent, intelligent and pious than Ash-Shaafi’ee”. He has also been praised by numerous scholars, such as Yahyah Bin Aktham Al-Qaadee, Ishaaq Bin Raahawayh, Muhammad Bin Al-Hasan and others, may Allah have mercy upon them.

He Was a Mujaddid

The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا

Allah will raise for this Ummah at the end of every hundred years the one who will revive its religion for it.
Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy upon him, used to say, “Umar Ibn Abdil Azeez, may Allah have mercy upon him, was one of the revivers at the end of the first hundred years, and Ash-Shaafi’ee, may Allah have mercy upon him, was one of the revivers at the end of the second hundred years”. He used to supplicate for Ash-Shaafi’ee in prayer for nearly forty years. [a]

Falsely Accused And Arrested

He was once appointed as judge in Najran (Yemen), then the people stringently began to follow his rulings and gave them precedence, then the matter was distorted to Haroon Ar-Rasheed, may Allah have mercy upon him, that As-Shaafi’ee was seeking after the Khilafah. He was then taken to Baghdad in chains on a mule and at the time he was 30 years old. He was brought in the presence of Haaroon Ar-Rasheed and a discussion took place between him and Muhammad Bin Hasan Ash-Shaybaanee, may Allah have mercy upon him, in the presence of Haaroon. Muhammad Bin Hasan spoke highly of Ash-Shaafi’ee, thus, it became clear to Haaroon Ar-Rasheed that Ash-Shaafi’ee was innocent of what they attributed to him.

Adherence to The Sunnah

He said, “If a hadith is reported with an authentic chain from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then establish your speech based on it and abandon my speech, because it is what I would have held, even if you do not hear it from me”. He also said, “Do not blindly follow me”. “I do not have speech in the presence of the Messenger’s speech”.

He said, “It is better for a man to be put to trial with everything that Allah has forbidden except Shirk than looking into theological rhetoric. Indeed I have come across affairs from the proponents of theological rhetoric that which I never thought I would come across”.

He said, “I wish that the people acquired this knowledge of the Sharee’ah and nothing of it is attributed to me”. [end of quote] [An Except From Al-Bidaayah Wan-Nihaayah. 10/251-254]

[a] More Faa’idah On This Hadeeth: [إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا – Allah will raise for this Ummah at the end of every hundred years the one who will revive its religion for it]. [إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ – Allah will raise for this Ummah]- meaning the Ummatul Ijaabah [i.e. the Muslims]. [عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِائَةِ سَنَةٍ – At the end of every hundred years]- meaning at the end of every hundred years when there is little knowledge of the Islamic legislation and the authentic Prophetic Tradition, whilst ignorance and religious innovation is rife. [مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا – One who will revive its religion for it]- meaning a scholar who is alive and well known. He will clarify the authentic Prophetic Tradition and distinguish it from bidah. knowledge will be abundant again and its adherents will be aided, and the proponents of bidah will be overcome and degraded.

This reviver is non else but a scholar who has sound understanding of the religious sciences that deal with acts of worship, the underlying wisdoms of the religion and the texts that deal with beliefs of the heart. [An Excerpt from Awnul Ma’bood Sharh Sunan Abee Daawud. Vol 11. Pages 259-260. Publisher: Daar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah. 1st Edition 1419AH (Year 1998)] [End of quote]

Indeed, once again – in brief – we clearly witness the virtue of one of those beacons of guidance and piety. It’s impossible not to admire them. Therefore, when our era is replete with Fitan and many other matters that distract or ruin a person’s character, whether the corruption is big, small, apparent or hidden, one finds a clear example in the lives of these beacons of guidance and piety, while seeking Allah’s guidance for Ikhlas, Thabat, and Tawfeeq. There should be no time to waste in quarrels with the people of our era, especially when distractions are too numerous to be counted. Instead, we focus on the lives of the Salafus Salih. We ask Allah for Ikhlas, Thabat and Husnul Khatimah Amin.