Shafi'i
Arabic: mâlikiyya
School of Shari'a, the law system of Sunni Islam, today used in eastern Africa, North Iraq, Bahrain, south of the Arabian peninsula and in Indonesia.
The Shafi'i school is based upon the theories of the Islamic theologian Abu Abdullah ash-Shafi'i (767- 820). He was from 804 until 810 a student of Malik, the founder of one of the other schools.
Shafi'is orientation can be defined as a middle road between the other schools of the time, with a balance between devine will and human speculation. He put the emphasis on the Hadith and Koran, not allowing the practice of later Muslims to be used as an example for law. In the cases where there was no clear directions given in the Koran or the Hadith, he allowed the use of analogy, qiyas, to develop law regulations, and in some cases even consensus of scholars, ijma'