Al-Saji narrated: Ibrāhīm ibn Ziyād al-Ubullī told us, “I heard al-Buwayṭī say: I asked al-Shāfi‘ī, ‘May I perform the prayer behind a Rāfiḍī?’ He replied, ‘Do not pray behind a Rāfiḍī, nor a Qadarī, nor a Murji’ī.’ I said, ‘Describe them for us.’ He said, ‘Whoever says, “Faith is merely a statement,” is a Murji’ī; whoever says that Abū Bakr and ‘Umar are not the two Imams is a Rāfiḍī; and whoever assigns the matter of will to himself is a Qadarī.’

Ibn Abī Ḥātim reported: ‘I heard al-Rabī‘ say, al-Shāfi‘ī told me, “Had I wished to compose a book against every opponent I could have done so, but speculative theology is not my concern, and I do not like anything of it to be attributed to me.” (1)’

I (the author) say: This pure attitude is mass-transmitted from al-Shāfi‘ī.

‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Abān the judge said: Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā al-Saji narrated to us; al-Muzanī narrated: ‘I said, “If anyone can draw out what lies in my heart and what my mind clings to regarding tawḥīd, it is al-Shāfi‘ī.” So I went to him while he was in the mosque of Egypt. When I knelt before him I said, “A question about tawḥīd has arisen in my mind, and I know that no one possesses knowledge like yours; what do you have on the matter?” He became angry and said, “Do you know where you are?” I replied, “Yes.” He said, “This is the very spot in which Allah drowned Pharaoh. Has it reached you that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ever ordered people to ask about this?” I said, “No.” He said, “Did the Companions speak about it?” I said, “No.” He said, “Do you know how many stars are in the sky?” I said, “No.” He said, “As for a single one of them—do you know its type, its rising, its setting, what it was created from?” I said, “No.” He said, “Something you see with your own eyes among created things you do not know, yet you want to speak about the knowledge of its Creator?!” Then he asked me about an issue of