Moreover, more of Alī’s positions have been found to conflict with the revealed texts than those of Umar and Uthmān. Al-Shāfiī compiled a book on this subject, setting out positions that differed from those of Alī and Ibn Masūd. When the Iraqis debated him on an issue, they would say, “Alī and Ibn Masūd said this,” and cite their statements as proof. Al-Shāfiī therefore compiled a book recording the positions of Alī and Ibn Masūd that the Iraqis themselves had abandoned (1). After him (2), Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazī (3) compiled a work far larger than it (4). He referred to it (5) when discussing the issue of raising the hands in prayer, after Ibn Masūd’s position had been cited against him (6).
This was a debate with scholars of Kufa who argued from the proofs of the Sharia, such as the followers of Abū Hanīfa—Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and others like him. For (7) most of al-Shāfiī’s debates were with Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and his associates. He neither met Abū Yūsuf, nor debated him, nor heard from him. Rather, Abū Yūsuf died before al-Shāfiī entered Iraq. He died in 183 AH (8), whereas al-Shāfiī arrived in Iraq in 185 AH. Hence, in his books al-Shāfiī cites Abū Yūsuf’s positions only through Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, who transmitted them from him.