Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi

Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (393–476 AH / 1003–1083 CE) was a Persian Shafi'i jurist, legal theorist, and the first appointed professor of the Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad, recognized as one of the foremost authorities of the Shafi'i school Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Lineage and Education

His full name was Ibrahim ibn 'Ali ibn Yusuf ibn 'Abd Allah al-Shirazi al-Firuzabadi, and he was given the honorific title Jamal al-Din Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1. He was born in Firuzabad, a town in the region of Shiraz, in 393 AH, though other reports place his birth in 370 AH or 373 AH Tahrir al-Fatawi ala al-T…+1.

Al-Shirazi began his study of Shafi'i jurisprudence in Shiraz under Abu 'Abd Allah al-Baydawi and 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ramin Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. He then traveled to Basra, where he studied under al-Kharazi, before moving in 415 AH to Baghdad Siyar Aalam al-Nubala. In Baghdad, he attached himself to Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari, under whom he excelled and became his teaching assistant (mu'id), and studied legal theory and theology under Abu Hatim al-Qazwini Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. He also studied hadith with Abu Bakr al-Barqani, Abu 'Ali ibn Shadhan, Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd Allah al-Kharqushi, and Abu 'Abd Allah al-Suri Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyin+1.

Career and the Nizamiyya

Al-Shirazi issued legal opinions for nearly fifty years and taught for more than thirty years in Baghdad Nisba wa Mansub+1. When the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk completed the construction of the Nizamiyya madrasa in Baghdad in Dhu al-Qa'da 459 AH, he designated al-Shirazi to assume its inaugural professorship al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya. On the opening day, al-Shirazi failed to appear after a boy questioned how he could teach in a place built on allegedly usurped land, prompting the appointment of Abu Nasr ibn al-Sabbagh for twenty days until Nizam al-Mulk intervened and persuaded al-Shirazi to take up the post al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya.

Among his authoritative legal treatises, he composed al-Muhadhdhab fi Fiqh al-Imam al-Shafi'i between 455 AH and Jumada al-Akhira 469 AH, and wrote his concise handbook of Shafi'i substantive law, al-Tanbih Tahrir al-Fatawi ala al-T…+1.

Standing and Students

Scholars widely celebrated al-Shirazi for his mastery of jurisprudence, legal theory, and dialectic; al-Sam'ani described him as the imam of the Shafi'is, the professor of the Nizamiyya, and the leading scholar of his age, noted for his eloquence, asceticism, and humility Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Students traveled from diverse regions to study under him Siyar Aalam al-Nubala. Among those who transmitted from him were al-Khatib al-Baghdadi—who died before him—as well as Abu al-Walid al-Baji, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Humaydi, Isma'il ibn al-Samarqandi, Yusuf ibn Ayyub al-Hamadani, Abu Bakr al-Shashi, and Ahmad ibn Sa'd ibn Hamman al-Hamadhani, the last of his transmitters to survive Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Death

Al-Shirazi died in Baghdad in Jumada al-Akhira 476 AH Nisba wa Mansub+1. The Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadi bi-Amr Allah personally led the funeral prayer over him Nisba wa Mansub+1.