al-Radd ala al-Shafii li-Ibn al-Labbad
- Author died
- 333 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-ʿArab lil-Ṭibāʿah
Al-Radd 'ala al-Shafi'i (The Refutation of al-Shafi'i) is a Maliki juridical treatise by the North African jurist Abu Bakr Ibn al-Labbad (250–333 AH / 864–944 CE) composed in defense of the school of Malik ibn Anas against the legal critiques and divergent opinions of al-Shafi'i .
Context and Purpose
During the third and fourth centuries AH, a substantial body of polemical literature emerged among Maliki jurists across both the Islamic East and the West in response to al-Shafi'i's critique of Malik and the legal practice of the people of Medina . Ibn al-Labbad's work forms part of this broader trend of Maliki rejoinders, which included similar refutations compiled by scholars such as Yahya ibn 'Umar al-Kinani, Muhammad ibn Sahnun, Isma'il ibn Ishaq, Abdullah ibn Talib, and Yusuf ibn Yahya al-Maghami . The text aimed at countering al-Shafi'i's positions, justifying the tenets and subsidiary rulings (furu') of the Maliki tradition, and upholding its foundational authorities against competing methodology .
Author and Transmission
The author, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Wishah al-Lakhmi (known as Ibn al-Labbad), was a leading Maliki jurist, mufti, and scholar of language and exegesis based in Kairouan . He studied under teachers including Yahya ibn 'Umar, Muhammad ibn 'Umar, and Ibn Talib, and became the preeminent legal authority in Ifriqiya of his generation . Following the rise of the Fatimid state, Ibn al-Labbad faced imprisonment and was subsequently forbidden from public teaching and issuing fatwas, leading his students—prominently including Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani and Ibn al-Tabban—to study with him privately in his residence until his death in 333 AH (944 CE) .
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