Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi or in full Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmed ibn Idris (Ibn al-Rahman) al-Sanhaji (al-Bihinsi al-Misri) al-Qarafi (died 1285), was a Maliki jurist of Berber origin who lived in Ayyubid and Mamluk Egypt. He was born in the Bahnasa district of Upper Egypt reportedly sometime around 1228.
He is considered by many to be the greatest Maliki legal theoretician of the 13th century; his writings and influence on Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh) spread throughout the Muslim world. His insistence on the limits of law underscores the importance of non-legal (not to be confused with illegal) considerations in determining the proper course of action, with significant implications for legal reform in the modern Islamic world. His views on the common good (maslahah) and custom provide means to accommodate the space-time differential between modern and premodern realities. The most important of his many works are Al-dhakhirah (The Stored Treasure), Al-furuq (Dirrerences), Nafais al usul (Gems of Legal Theory), and Kitab al-ihkam fi tamyiz al-fatawa an al-ahkam wa tasarrufat al-qadi wa'l-imam (The Book of Perfecting the Distinction Between Legal Opinions, Judicial Decisions, and the Discretionary Actions of Judges and Caliphs).
[edit] Bibiliography
- Al Qarafi and His Explanation of the Rainbow by Aydin M. Sayili, Isis, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jul., 1940), pp. 16-26
[edit] External Links
From Prophetic Actions to Constitutional Theory: A Novel Chapter in Medieval Muslim Jurisprudence by Dr. Sherman A.Jackson [1]
