Imam Malik ‘versus’ Imam Shafi‘i

There you had Imam Malik (d.795 AD) – the popular jurist who began to issue Fatawah (religious decrees) at the age of twenty-one (21); the author of the famous book in Islamic jurisprudence, al-Muwatta. There you had Imam Shafi’I (d. 820). The famous scholar, poet and jurist. Among other legacies, to him belong the privilege […]

There you had Imam Malik (d.795 AD) – the popular jurist who began to issue Fatawah (religious decrees) at the age of twenty-one (21); the author of the famous book in Islamic jurisprudence, al-Muwatta.

There you had Imam Shafi’I (d. 820). The famous scholar, poet and jurist. Among other legacies, to him belong the privilege is systematizing or dividing Islamic Jurisprudence into four, namely the Quran, the Hadith, Ijma and Qiyas.

Thus to these two theologians -Imam Malik and Shafi‘i- we are forever indebted. The first is the teacher; the second, the student; the first the predecessor, the second the successor. Both teacher and student transacted only in one trade and one trade only- jurisprudence (Fiqh). They achieved renown not for their acquisition of this worldly pleasures and treasures but for seeking to interpret the text to their contexts and to contexts beyond their times and climes. The first chose Madinah, the city of the Prophet, as his abode; the second chose itinerancy as a pastime. Though Shafi‘i was born in Gaza, he achieved renown in Yemen, Baghdad and Cairo. In his learning and odysseys there is much lessons for those imbued with understanding.

The question then rose during their time, as it always does, for every Muslim community where ignorance is anathema. It was a question of life and living; it was a question of faith and fate. Someone wanted to know whether sustenance from the Almighty to His creatures is usually an effect without verifiable cause (Qadar) or that it was and still is hinged and contingent on human efforts.

Imam Malik “entered” the podium. Or rather Imam Shafi‘i yielded space to his teacher. Seized by faith and commitment to his knowledge of the unknowable ways of the Almighty, Imam Malik posits that sustenance from the Almighty comes from complete and true reliance on the Almighty. “What evidence do you have for this opinion?”, he was asked. Imam Malik went on to cite the popular tradition which reads: “were you to rely completely on the Almighty, He would definitely have provided for your sustenance the same way He provides for the bird in the wild. At dawn, it goes out with an empty stomach; at dusk, it comes back to its nest with a belly full of food”.

“No”. Imam Shafi’i countered. “Were it not for the bird’s zest and spirit as it flies out of its nest at dawn, it would not have been provided with its sustenance”. In other words, Imam Shafi’i holds that creatures of the Most High must work in order for them to eat; they must plant in order for them to harvest. In order for you to be great, you must be prepared to suffer greatly.

Then al-Shafi‘i, the ‘student’, wanted to bring the pertinence of his argument home for his teacher to contemplate. Soon he came across an old man carrying a heavy sack of dates. Then the young Shafi’i asked the old man: ‘Can I carry this big sack for you for a while?”. The old man agreed. On reaching his house, the old man thanked al-Shafii for his kindness and offered him some quantities of dates as gift. Then Shaf’ii said to himself- ‘this confirms my position on the issue of sustenance. Were it not for the fact that I assisted that old man in carrying his sack, he would not and never have offered to give me these dates”. He then quickly proceeded to his master, Imam Malik, with the dates. He presented the dates to the latter and further told him the story of the old man.

Imam Malik, apparently well aware of the point Imam Shafi’i wanted to make went ahead to take some of the dates and put them in his mouth. Thereafter he addressed the highly precocious Imam Shafi’i saying: “and you have just brought for me my sustenance without any effort on my part”!

Thus, two different interpretations emerge from the same text or source; interpretations which set the believer free and equally functions in focusing his cognition on the inimitable interventions from the Almighty in whose hands lie the treasures of the heaven and earth. Here the posture of the mystic, Ibrahim bn Ad’am, becomes relevant. Once, he was on a journey as a big trader. He found a bird whose feathers have been cut. He then halted the caravan and addressed it saying: “By the Almighty, I desire to know who will come forward to give it its food or else I am prepared to observe this bird while it dies of hunger”. Soon a bird emerged in the horizon. It came directly to the spot where the weak bird was, put its mouth on the latter’s and began to, as it were, ‘feed’ it. Ad’am then concluded that it was better for him to abandon his business and concentrate on the worship of the Almighty. One of his contemporaries by name, al-Shibli, heard of this strange decision of Ad’am and decided to come over to engage him.

He asked Ad’am saying: ‘why did you abandon your business? Ad’am then narrated the story of the bird to Al-Shibli. The latter thereafter responded saying: “why did you prefer the position of the sickly bird and not the other bird that came to the latter’s assistance?” Al-shibli probably said this in reference to the tradition of the Prophet which says the Almighty prefers the able-bodied servant to the weak one?

In the above anecdotes there are important lessons for us: that when sustenance comes our way without cause, such are blessings from Him; when sustenance comes based on efforts on our part such is equally a reward and a blessing from Him. In other words, not all seeds yield fruits; not all produce lead to bumper harvest. His ‘hands’ are critical to terrestrial and celestial success.