ABSTRACT
Al-Shäfi'i stands at the turning point in the history of Istarnie Jurisprudence. With him begins a new phase of the development of legal theory. He did not strictly belong to any particular region which might make him prejudiced in his outlook on the principles of law. The early schools bad already systematized the law each in the particular milieu of its own region. They bad no doubt differences among them, hut their differences were not so basic as could distinguish one from the other in terms of principles. These differences were mostly in the details of legal problems while their basic reasoning and approach to problems, apart from certain sharp distinctions here and there, seem to have been more or less uniform. But aH)hafi'i's differences from the early schools are of fundamental nature and, therefore, he cannot be placed on a par with them. The reason for his disagreement with the early schools is that by his extensive study of law and debates with the jurists of different regions h e formulated certain new principles of la w and strictly followed them. These principles are scattered in his writings specially in al-Risälah. The doctrines of his predecessors which conflicted with his self-formulated theories and principles were rejected by him. Thus, in a way be was a pioneer of a system in Iaw which was adopted by the jurists of the later ages.
