Imaam al-Shafi’i
Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-Abbas, the Scholar of the Era, the Defender of Hadith, Abu Abdullah al-Qurashi.
From al-Shafi’i, who said: “Seeking knowledge is better than voluntary prayers.” He also said: “What a wretched provision for the Hereafter is wrongdoing against Allah’s servants.”
He also said: “The Scholar is wasted when he has a lack of companions, and the ignorant person is wasted due to his lack of intellect. Even more lost is the one who befriends someone without intellect.”
He also said: “In any household where women do not interact with other men and men do not interact with other women, their children will inevitably be foolish.”
The Hafiz Abu Bakr al-Khatib authored a book affirming the validity of using Imam al-Shafi’i as a source of evidence.
No one criticized him except out of envy or ignorance of his status. Such baseless criticism only elevated his standing and increased his honor, for this is the way of Allah with His servants: “O you who have believed, do not be like those who harmed Moses; then Allah cleared him of what they said. And he, in the sight of Allah, was distinguished. O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice” (Al-Ahzab 33:69-70).
From Ahmad ibn Salih, who said: Al-Shafi’i told me, “Devote yourself to worship before you become a leader, for if you become a leader, you will not be able to devote yourself to worship.”
Ahmad ibn Salamah al-Naysaburi said: Ishaq ibn Rahwayh married the wife of a man who had al-Shafi’i’s books. The man had died, and Ishaq married her only for the books. He said: “I based my ‘Jami’ al-Kabir’ on al-Shafi’i’s book and my ‘Jami’ al-Saghir’ on Sufyan’s ‘Jami’.” When Abu Isma’il al-Tirmidhi came to Naysabur with al-Shafi’i’s books from al-Buwayti, Ishaq told him, “Do not narrate from al-Shafi’i’s books as long as I am here,” and he complied.
Abu al-Shaykh al-Hafiz and others narrated from multiple sources: When al-Shafi’i entered Egypt, the prominent followers of Malik came to him and gathered around him. But when they saw him opposing Malik and refuting his views, they turned away from him and rejected him. So, he composed these lines:
“Shall I scatter pearls before grazing cattle,
Or string scattered gems for a shepherd?
By my life, if I am neglected in a wretched land,
I will not neglect to share gems of wisdom among them.
If Allah, the Subtle, opens a way with His grace,
And I find people worthy of knowledge and wisdom,
I will share beneficial knowledge and gain their affection.
Otherwise, it will remain stored and concealed within me.
Whoever gives knowledge to the ignorant wastes it,
And whoever denies it to the deserving has wronged them.
Whoever withholds religious knowledge from those who seek it
Will bear the sin of withholding and the sin of concealment.”
From al-Rabi’, who said: “I saw Ashhab ibn Abd al-Aziz prostrating and saying in his prostration, ‘O Allah, take al-Shafi’i’s life so that Malik’s knowledge does not disappear.’ When this reached al-Shafi’i, he composed these lines:
‘Some men wish for my death, but if I die,
That path is one where I am not alone.
Tell the one who seeks to oppose the past:
Prepare for another like it, as if it has already come.
They know—if knowledge were of any use to them—
That even if I die, the caller against me will not live forever.'”
(Siyarul A’laamin Nubalaa: 10/5)
