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A Shafi'i jurist; a scholar counted among the authorities of his age in Qur'anic exegesis, hadith, fiqh, legal theory, kalam, Arabic and poetry, who brought about the spread of Shafi'i law in Transoxiana. His full name is Abu Bakr al-Qaffal al-Kabir Muhammad b. 'Ali b. Isma'il al-Shashi.
He was born in Shash (Tashkent) on 15 Sha'ban 291 (2 July 904). The by-name Qaffal derives from the locksmith's trade; he is called al-Qaffal al-Kabir or al-Qaffal al-Shashi to distinguish him from 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Marwazi, known by the same by-name. He is the scholar generally referred to simply as "Qaffal" in works of tafsir, hadith, kalam and legal theory; in books of fiqh, where he is mentioned less often than 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad, he appears mostly as al-Qaffal al-Shashi.
In 309 (921) he set out in search of hadith to Khurasan, Iraq, the Hijaz and Syria. He heard hadith from scholars such as Ibn Khuzayma, Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, Abu 'Aruba, Ibn al-Baghandi, al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, Ibn Durayd and Abu'l-Qasim al-Baghawi. Having studied various sciences, he returned to Shash and taught there. Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi describes him as the most knowledgeable in legal theory among the Transoxianan jurists of his time and the one who travelled most in search of hadith.
He appears to have gone to Rayy with the army of Khurasan and Transoxiana raised against Byzantium (354/965). He composed a satirical poem in refutation of the qasida written at the order of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and sent to the Abbasid caliph al-Muti' li-llah, which disparaged the Muslims on account of the capture of Massisa and Tarsus (352/963). Many men of letters and poets from Khurasan, Syria and Iraq wrote refutations of that qasida, but Qaffal's was chosen and sent to the emperor. The texts of both poems were also quoted by al-Subki; the poem, a fine example of diplomatic language in verse, has been studied in works on international relations.
He died in Shash in Dhu'l-Hijja 365 (August 976). His son Abu'l-Hasan al-Qasim (d. c. 400/1010) studied fiqh with Abu 'Abd Allah al-Halimi and became one of the important figures of the Shafi'i school.
His Circle of Influence — Scholars such as Abu 'Abd Allah al-Halimi, 'Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad al-Idrisi, Abu 'Abd Allah Ibn Manda, Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Sulami and al-Hakim al-Naysaburi transmitted hadith from him. His Tafsir al-Qur'an, particularly for the Mu'tazili views it contains, is among the sources of al-Razi's Mafatih al-ghayb and al-Suyuti's Asrar al-tanzil. His views are quoted in Shafi'i sources.
His Poetry and Sufi Line — He was the first jurist to write on dialectic (jadal). At first he adopted Mu'tazili ideas, defending views such as that using analogy and single-transmitter reports as proof in legal rulings is rationally obligatory; later he turned to the school of Abu'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari and learned kalam from him. For this reason Mu'tazili ideas are found in some of his works, above all his Tafsir al-Qur'an. He also held independent opinions departing from the school's position, such as that a sick person may combine prayers and that it is recommended for an adult to offer the 'aqiqa sacrifice for himself.
His Works — ① Mahasin al-shari'a fi furu' al-Shafi'iyya: written in answer to a question about the rationales of legal rulings; one copy each is held in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library and Yale University Library. ② Jawami' al-kalim fi'l-hadith min al-mawa'iz wa'l-hikam. His other works mentioned in the sources: Sharh al-Risala, Dala'il al-nubuwwa, Adab al-qadi, Kitab al-Usul, Tafsir al-Qur'an. A work titled Jawami' al-kalim fi'l-mawa'iz wa'l-hikam registered under his name in the Hacı Selim Ağa Library has been shown by research to belong to al-Muttaqi al-Hindi.
His Tomb and Complex — The Tashkent article lists the tomb of Qaffal al-Shashi (Hazrat Imam) among the city's architectural monuments and names Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Qaffal among the scholars Tashkent produced. In the middle of the XIIth (XVIIIth) century one of Tashkent's four main districts bore the name Qaffal al-Shashi (Sibzar).
Differing Scholarly Views
Year of death — The source gives his death as Dhu'l-Hijja 365 (August 976); it is also said that he died in 366. The year 336 (947-48) given by al-Shirazi the article explicitly considers wrong. The atlas follows the source's main date and also records the other report.
Attribution of Usul al-Shashi — Brockelmann counts Usul al-Shashi, printed several times, among the works of Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Shashi, Qaffal al-Shashi and Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Shashi. The article, however, says the attribution is impossible for all three Shashis, citing that the book concerns Hanafi legal theory and refers to al-Shamil of Ibn al-Sabbagh (d. 477/1084).
Attribution of al-Taqrib — Some scholars ascribe al-Taqrib, a lost commentary on al-Muzani's Mukhtasar, to Qaffal al-Shashi. Ibn Khallikan, however, says he saw the work himself and that this six-volume work actually belongs to his son Abu'l-Hasan al-Qasim. The article considers the ascription mistaken.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 24, pp. 146-148, entry “Kaffâl, Muhammed b. Ali”
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Abdullah Muhammedcanov · vol. 40, pp. 145-148, entry “TAŞKENT”
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