Muhammad al-Masudi
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Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Masudi (d. c. 420s AH / 1030s CE) was a Shafi'i jurist and legal scholar from Merv, recognized among the prominent figures of the Khurasanian school of Shafi'i jurisprudence and best known for his extensive commentary on Mukhtasar al-Muzani.
Identity and Education
His full lineage is recorded as Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Mas'ud al-Mas'udi, taking his nisba from his ancestor Mas'ud. Biographical accounts also report his name as Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Mas'ud or Muhammad ibn Mas'ud. Based in Merv in Khurasan, he studied Shafi'i jurisprudence under the leading master of the Khurasanian tradition, Abu Bakr al-Qaffal al-Marwazi, and transmitted a small amount of hadith from him.
Scholarly Standing and Legal Acumen
Al-Masudi was regarded as an ascetic, pious, and highly capable jurist who thoroughly mastered the Shafi'i legal school. Ibn al-Salah observed that the deferential manner in which al-Qaffal's senior disciples cited al-Masudi testified to his eminent standing. Taj al-Din al-Subki noted that if al-Masudi was not an outright peer of al-Qaffal, he was among his most senior students, ranking above contemporaries like Abu al-Qasim al-Furani. In later Shafi'i legal literature, his legal positions and formulations were cited directly by major authorities, including al-Rafi'i, who had access to his voluminous commentary on Mukhtasar al-Muzani.
He was particularly celebrated for his ingenuity in solving complex juristic dilemmas and legal devices (hiyal). Al-Ghazali recorded a famous incident in which a man had sworn under oath not to eat eggs, but later swore on pain of divorcing his wife that he would eat whatever was in another man's sleeve—which turned out to contain eggs. When al-Qaffal was asked about the dilemma from his teaching chair and hesitated, al-Masudi provided the solution: to prepare the eggs into a sweet confection (natif or qabayt), thereby fulfilling the obligation to eat the contents of the sleeve without violating the prohibition against eating plain eggs, a stratagem that earned high praise.
Death
Al-Masudi died in Merv in the twenties of the fifth century AH (c. 420s AH / c. 1029–1038 CE). An alternative report dates his death to around 401 AH.
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List of Works
al-Hiyal (Legal Devices) is a work of Islamic jurisprudence addressing licit legal exits and stratagems within the Shafi'i legal tradition. It examines juristic formulas and arrangements designed to help individuals navigate conflicting legal obligations, fulfill vows, or avoid unintended legal consequences while remaining compliant with the outward form of Islamic law.