Al-Risala, composed by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii around the turn of the ninth century, is widely regarded as the founding text of Islamic legal theory, the earliest systematic treatment of the sources from which Islamic law is derived and the work from which the Shafii school of Sunni jurisprudence takes its name. As the school's own foundational primary text in its founder's own words, it is the direct and authoritative source for the reasoning underlying classical Sunni legal methodology. Its limit is that it records one influential jurist's own systematic argument rather than a neutral survey of every competing legal theory current in his own time, so a claim about how other early schools reasoned differently needs their own primary or secondary sources alongside it.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier3
Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i's own foundational legal treatise, with no modern publisher of record; the tradition's own primary text rather than a modern critical scholarly edition, hence the tradition's-own-account tier. NotesThe foundational statement of Shafii legal theory and the earliest systematic treatment of the sources of law.
Citation
AuthorMuhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii
Publication Year820
Source Typeprimary-text
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Al-Shafi'i directly: "Al-Risala, composed by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii around the turn of the ninth century, is widely regarded as the founding text of Islamic legal theory, the earliest systematic treatment of the..."
This source names Muhammad directly: "Al-Risala, composed by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii around the turn of the ninth century"
This source names Sunni directly: "work from which the Shafii school of Sunni jurisprudence takes its name."
Claims Backed By This Source (30 claims)
This source backs 30 claims across the atlas. As facts: 16 well-attested. As cited relationships: 4 holds, 2 connected, 1 critiqued Here, 1 held Differently. Plus 6 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Articles, 16 claims: 10 well-attested, 2 connected, 1 critiqued Here, 3 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 6 well-attested, 3 holds.
- Doctrines, 3 claims: 1 holds, 2 general references.
- Schools of Religious Law, 2 claims: 1 held Differently, 1 general references.
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