Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (10/95)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

And there is no doubt that when the Imam settled in Egypt, parted company with his Maliki peers, undermined some of their subsidiary rulings with proofs from the Sunnah, and even differed with his own teacher on certain issues, they were pained by him, spoke ill of him, and estrangement arose between them. May Allah forgive them all.

Imam Sahnun himself admitted: “There was no innovation in al-Shafi‘i.” By Allah, he spoke the truth. May Allah have mercy on al-Shafi‘i! By Allah, where is the like of al-Shafi‘i in sincerity, honor, nobility, breadth of knowledge, acute intellect, championing of the truth, and the multitude of his virtues? May Allah the Exalted show him mercy.

The hadith master Abu Bakr al-Khatib, discussing the question of citing Imam al-Shafi‘i as an authority, related—this I read aloud before Abu al-Fadl Ibn ‘Asakir, from ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad; Yusuf ibn Ayyub al-Zahid informed us, and al-Khatib conveyed—that someone asked him to explain why al-Bukhari omitted narrating from al-Shafi‘i in his Jami‘.

He added that certain followers of Abu Hanifah’s opinion had declared al-Shafi‘i’s hadiths weak and objected on the grounds that al-Bukhari had neglected to transmit them. Were it not for the charge Allah has laid upon scholars to make clear what they know, the best course would be to ignore the objections of the ignorant altogether and leave them to wander in their confusion.

A person of repute also pointed out to me that the collections of Muslim and others contain no hadiths related by al-Shafi‘i.

I replied with what Allah enabled me to say: A man of al-Shafi‘i’s stature is envied, and people try to hide his hallmarks; yet Allah refuses except to complete His light and to bring every hidden truth to the fore. How could one who has attained such completeness not be envied, given the qualities Allah gathered for him—qualities denied only by blatant ignorance or forfeited reason?

Al-Khatib then began to list the Imam’s areas of learning, his merits, and the veneration in which the leading scholars held him, saying:
“Allah has willed nothing but to raise and exalt him;
None can bring low what the Lord of the Throne exalts.”

He went on: “Al-Bukhari refined what he placed in his Sahih, yet he omitted a great deal of foundational material in preference for concision.”

Ibrahim ibn Ma‘qal said: “I heard al-Bukhari say:”

وَلاَ رَيْبَ أَنَّ الإِمَامَ لَمَّا سَكَنَ مِصْرَ، وَخَالَفَ أَقْرَانَهُ مِنَ المَالِكيَّةِ، وَوَهَّى بَعْضَ فُرُوْعِهِم بِدَلاَئِلِ السُّنَّةِ، وَخَالَفَ شَيْخَهُ فِي مَسَائِلَ، تَأَلَّمُوا مِنْهُ، وَنَالُوا مِنْهُ، وَجَرَتْ بَيْنَهُم وَحْشَةٌ، غَفَرَ اللهُ لِلْكُلِّ. وَقَدِ اعتَرَفَ الإِمَامُ سُحْنُوْنُ، وَقَالَ: لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي الشَّافِعِيِّ بِدْعَةٌ. فَصَدَقَ وَاللهِ، فَرَحِمَ اللهُ الشَّافِعِيَّ، وَأَيْنَ مِثْلُ الشَّافِعِيِّ وَاللهِ فِي صِدْقِهِ، وَشَرَفِهِ، وَنُبلِهِ، وَسَعَةِ عِلْمِهِ، وَفَرْطِ ذَكَائِهِ، وَنَصْرِهِ لِلْحَقِّ، وَكَثْرَةِ مَنَاقبِهِ - رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تعَالَى -. قَالَ الحَافِظُ، أَبُو بَكْرٍ الخَطِيْبُ فِي مَسْأَلَةِ الاحْتِجَاجِ بِالإِمَامِ الشَّافِعِيِّ، فِيْمَا قَرَأْتُ عَلَى أَبِي الفَضْلِ بنِ عَسَاكِرَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ، أَخْبَرَنَا يُوْسُفُ بنُ أَيُّوْبَ الزَّاهِدُ، أَخْبَرَنَا الخَطِيْبُ، قَالَ: سَأَلَنِي بَعْضُ إِخْوَانِنَا بَيَانَ عِلَّةِ تَرْكِ البُخَارِيِّ الرِّوَايَةَ عَنِ الشَّافِعِيِّ فِي (الجَامِعِ) ؟ وَذَكَرَ أَنَّ بَعْضَ مَنْ يَذْهَبُ إِلَى رَأْي أَبِي حَنِيْفَةَ ضَعَّفَ أَحَادِيْثَ الشَّافِعِيِّ، وَاعْتَرضَ بِإِعرَاضِ البُخَارِيِّ عَنْ رِوَايتِهِ، وَلَوْلاَ مَا أَخَذَ اللهُ عَلَى العُلَمَاءِ فِيْمَا يَعْلَمُوْنَهُ لَيُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ، لَكَانَ أَوْلَى الأَشْيَاءِ الإِعْرَاضُ عَنِ اعتِرَاضِ الجُهَّالِ، وَتَرْكُهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ. وَذَكَرَ لِي مَنْ يُشَارُ إِلَيْهِ خُلُوَّ كِتَابِ مُسْلِمٍ وَغَيْرِهُ مِنْ حَدِيْثِ الشَّافِعِيِّ. فَأَجَبْتُهُ بِمَا فَتَحَ اللهُ لِي: وَمثلُ الشَّافِعِيِّ مَنْ حُسِدَ، وَإِلَى سَتْرِ مَعَالِمِهِ قُصِدَ، وَيَأْبَى اللهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يُتَمَّ نُورَهُ، وَيُظْهِرَ مِنْ كُلِّ حَقٍّ مَسْتُورَهُ، وَكَيْفَ لاَ يُغْبَطُ مَنْ حَازَ الكَمَالَ، بِمَا جَمَعَ اللهُ لَهُ مِنَ الخِلاَلِ اللَّوَاتِي لاَ يُنْكِرُهَا إِلاَّ ظَاهِرُ الجَهْلِ، أَوْ ذَاهِبُ العَقْلِ. ثُمَّ أَخَذَ الخَطِيْبُ يُعَدِّدُ عُلُوْمَ الإِمَامِ وَمنَاقبَهِ، وَتَعْظِيْمَ الأَئِمَّةِ لَهُ، وَقَالَ: أَبَى اللهُ إِلاَّ رَفْعَهُ وَعُلُوَّهُ ... وَلَيْسَ لِمَا يُعْلِيهِ ذُو العَرْشِ وَاضِعُ إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ: وَالبُخَارِيُّ هَذَّبَ مَا فِي (جَامِعِهِ) غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ عَدَلَ عَنْ كَثِيْرٍ مِنَ الأُصُوْلِ، إِيثَاراً لِلإِيجَازِ. قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ بنُ مَعْقِلٍ: سَمِعْتُ البُخَارِيَّ يَقُوْلُ: