Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi
Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī أبو إسحاق الشيرازي | |
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| Title | Amir al-Mu'minin fī al-Fiqh Shaykh al-Islam |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1003 |
| Died | 1083 (aged 79–80) |
| Nationality | Persian |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Main interest(s) | Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Usul al-Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence), Usul al-Din, 'Aqidah, Tawhid, Kalam (Islamic theology), Hadith studies |
| Notable work(s) |
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| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
| Creed | Ash'ari |
| Muslim leader | |
| Successor | Abu Sa'd al-Mutwalli |
| Part of a series on |
| Ash'arism |
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| Background |
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Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Shīrāzī (Arabic: أبو إسحاق الشيرازي) was a prominent Persian jurisconsult, legal theoretician, theologian, debater and muhaqqiq (researcher). He was one of the leading scholars of Shafiʿi jurisprudence in the eleventh century and arguably the most prolific writer of Islamic legal literature.
He became the second teacher after succeeding Ibn al-Sabbagh at the Nizamiyya school in Baghdad, which was built in his honour by the vizier (minister) of the Seljuk Empire Nizam al-Mulk.
He acquired the status of a mujtahid in the field of fiqh and usul al-fiqh. The contemporary muhaddithun (hadith specialists) also considered him as their Imam. Likewise, he was respected and enjoyed a high status among the mutakallimun (practitioners of kalam) and Sufis.
He was closely associated with the eminent Sufis of his time like Abu Nasr ibn al-Qushayri (d. 514/1120), the son of al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072).
Abu Bakr al-Shashi said: "Abu Ishaq is Allah's proof on the leading scholars of the time." Al-Muwaffaq al-Hanafi said: "Abu Ishaq is the Amir al-Mu'minin (Prince of the Believers) from among the fuqaha' (jurists)." The Azhari scholar 'Ali Jum'a, an inheritor of al-Bajuri's teachings, calls him the "shaykh of the fuqaha' of his era."