47 – al-Shāfiʿī (150–204 AH)

196 – Shaykh al-Islām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Hakkārī and the ḥāfiẓ Abū Muḥammad al-Maqdisī related, each with his own chain, from Abū Thawr and Abū Shuʿayb, both of them from Imām Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, the champion of ḥadith—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—who said:
“The position concerning the sunnah on which I stand, and on which I saw those I met—such as Sufyān, Mālik and others—standing, is to acknowledge the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah; that Allah is upon His Throne in His heaven, drawing near to His creation however He wills and descending to the lowest heaven however He wills …” He then mentioned the rest of the creed.

197 – With that same chain—though I do not know it—it is reported from al-Ḥusayn ibn Hishām al-Baladī who said: “This is al-Shāfiʿī’s testament: he bears witness that there is no god but Allah,” and he quoted the testament in full, in which it states:

198 – Al-Ḥākim said: “I heard al-Aṣamm say: I heard al-Rabīʿ say: I heard al-Shāfiʿī. After narrating a ḥadith, a man asked him, ‘Will you act upon this, O Abū ʿAbd Allah?’ He replied, ‘Whenever I relate an authentic ḥadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and then do not act upon it, bear witness that my intellect has departed.’”

174 – I say: Ibn Abī Ḥātim also brought this in Ādāb al-Shāfiʿī wa-Manāqibih ⦗93⦘, transmitted to us by al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān al-Murādī. This chain is sound. Others have likewise recorded it, as you may see in my book Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh ⦗33, 5th ed.⦘

199 – Ibn Khuzaymah and several others reported: I heard Yūnus say: al-Shāfiʿī said, “One does not ask the original, ‘Why?’ or ‘How?’”

175 – I say: Among those who cited this is Ibn Abī Ḥātim in al-Ādāb ⦗233⦘, who added in his report from Yūnus on the authority of al-Shāfiʿī: “It is the branch that is asked, ‘Why?’ When its analogy with the original is sound, it is accepted and the proof is established.”