Usul al-Fiqh

Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (767–820 CE) founded the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence and was the architect of Islamic legal theory. His Al-Risala established the first systematic framework for deriving law from its sources, resolving a crisis of conflicting legal opinions.

The madhabs, the schools of Islamic law that developed methods for deriving rulings from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Four Sunni schools and the Shi'a traditions have guided Muslim practice for over a millennium; they are schools of method, not sects.

The Sunnah represents the teachings, practices, and sayings of Prophet Muhammad, serving as the second primary source of Islamic guidance after the Quran. It provides practical examples of how to implement Quranic principles in daily life.