Al-Shafi’i was among those who called to the Imam Yah ya ibn ʿAbdulla
h: Muh ammad ibn Idrī s al-Mut t alibī al-Sha fiʿī (may Allah be pleased
with him), who passed away in the year two hundred and three. He
was among the most eminent followers of the family of Muh ammad
and among the sincerest in devotion to the guardianship of the sons of
the Messenger. He is the one who said:
O Household of the Messenger of Allah—your love
Is enough for you of great rank that you are who you are.
And he also said:
O rider, stop at al-Muhassab of Mina,
Stop, then proclaim that I belong to Muhammad,
If loving the family of Muhammad is rejection,
Then it is an obligation from Allah, revealed in the Qurʾan.
For whoever does not pray upon you—doesn’t deserve a pray.
Stand and Chant, Tell him and his two sons—I am not one who
harbors hatred.
Let the two weighty beings bear witness that I am a Ra fid ī ,
His actions and statements on this subject are more numerous than
can be enumerated.
Likewise, were others among the scholars of the upright Ummah and
the virtuous members of the noble religion: they did not turn away
from the Household of their Prophet, nor did they incline away from
the path of their guidance.
Thus, al-Sha fiʿī took knowledge from Yah ya ibn Kha lid al-Madanī and
Ibra hī m ibn Abī Yah ya al-Madanī —both of whom studied under
Imam Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Him). Likewise, Abu Hanifa al-
Nuʿma n ibn Tha bit, who passed away in the year one hundred and
fifty, was among the students of Imam Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon
Him) and his followers. Malik ibn Anas al-As bah ī , who passed away
in the year one hundred and seventy-nine, studied under Imam Jaʿfar
ibn Muh ammad al-S a diq (Peace be Upon Him) and issued legal
opinions permitting rising alongside Muh ammad ibn ʿAbdulla h and
his brother, Imam Ibra hī m ibn ʿAbdulla h (Peace be Upon Them). And
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who passed away in the year 241 AH, studied
under al-Sha fiʿī and authored works on merits (al-manaqib).
[Al-Tuhaf: Sharh al-Zulf, by the Imam who renewed the religion, Majd
al-Dī n ibn Muh ammad ibn Mans u r al-Muʾayyidī (Peace be Upon
Him).