The Epistle on Legal Theory: A Translation of Al-Shafii’s Risalah

Al-Shafi’i (767-820) was born a century and a half after Muhammad died, never questioned that Muslims were obligated to follow God’s revealed law, and devoted his life to determining how best to do so. The Epistle represents his mature statement about how to resolve methodological problems with translating the Qur’an and Prophetic hadith-reports into specific guidelines for human behavior. The translation is for students and scholars interested in Islamic law from the perspective of some other field; specialists in Islamic law or early Islam would require a more rigorous edition. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)