Shaykh al-Islâm Zakarîyâ al-Ansârî and his jurisprudential thought

In this study examines "Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari and His Jurisprudence," focusing on a prominent jurist and qadi al-qudat of the Shafi'i school of thought who lived in Egypt during the 9th and 10th Hijri centuries. al-Ansari was distinguished by his expertise in numerous intellectual and transmitted sciences, particularly Islamic disciplines. The objective of choosing this topic is to comprehensively ascertain al-Ansari's scholarly personality, his esteemed position within the Shafi'i school, his rank in ijtihad and his standing in issuing fatwas, his influence on subsequent jurists, and the salient features of his abridged and commentary-type works on furu' fiqh. Prepared using the text analysis technique within qualitative research methods, this study comprises an introduction, four main chapters, and appendices. The introduction analyzes the study's subject, objective, significance, methodology, limitations, the sources utilized, and similar prior studies on the topic. The first chapter investigates the political, social, and scholarly conditions of the Mamluk period, during which al-Ansari lived. Subsequently, detailed information is presented regarding al-Ansari's life, scholarly personality, teachers, students, and works. The second chapter addresses al-Ansari's position within the Shafi'i school, thoroughly examining his rank in ijtihad, his authority in issuing fatwas within the school, his impact on later jurists, and the epithets used when referring to him. The third and fourth chapters meticulously examine the prominent features of al-Ansari's abridged and commentary-type works concerning furu' fiqh. The study concludes with a results section presenting the findings obtained through the research, a bibliography listing the sources consulted, and appendices that include photographs of the graves of Imām al-Shāfiʿī, al-Ansārī, his teacher Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, and his student ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Shaʿrānī.