dered as the moll; learned man of his time in that fpecies o f knowledge,
and exerted his utmoft endeavours to procure reverence and refpect to
thofe polthumous precepts of the Prophet.— His felf denial and abfti-
nence -were remarkable, infomuch that he generally failed four days in
the week, during which he denied himfelf even the moll ordinary indul-
gencies.— He enjoyed the advantages of a perfonal acquaintance and familiar
intercourfe with Haneefa, although differing from him with refpeCt
to the abfolute authority of the traditions.— His pride, however, was at
leall equal to his literary endowments.— In proof o f this it is related of him
that when the great Khcilif Haroon a l R asheed came to Medina, to
vifit the tomh of the P rophet, Malik having gone forth to meet him,
the K halif addreflfed him, “ O Ma lik ! I intreat, as a favour, that you will
“ come every day to me and my two fons A meen and Maimoon, and
“ inftruct us in traditional knowledge;” to which the fage haughtily
replied, “ O Khalif ! fcience is of a dignified nature, and inftead of
“ going to any perfon, requires that all Ihould come to it.” — T h e llory
further fays that the fovereign, with much humility, alked his pardon,
acknowledged the truth of his remark, and fent both his fons to Ma l ik ,
who feated them among his other fcholars without any diftindlion.—
With regard to the traditions, his authority is generally quoted as deci-
five.— In fa£t, he confidered thofe as altogether fuperfeding the judgment
of a Man ; and on his deathbed feverely condemned himfelf for the many
decilions he had prefumed to give on the mere fuggeftion of his own
reafon.— T h e Koran and the Sonna excepted, the only lludy to which
he applied himfelf, in his latter days, was the contemplation of the D e it y ;
and his mind was at length fo much abforbed in the immenfity of the
divine attributes and perfedions, as to lofe fight of all more infignificant
Objects!— Hence he gradually withdrew himfelf from the world, became-
indifferent to its concerns, and after fome years of complete retirement,
died at Medina, A. H. 179, A. C. 801.— His authority is at prefent
chiefly received in Barbary, and the other northern Hates of Africa.—
O f his works, the only one upon record is the Mattd, which contains a
review of the moft remarkable adjudications of the Prophet.— His principal
fcholars
fcholars were Shafei (who afterwards himfelf gave the name to a fe£t),
A booL ais, and the learned Ibn Sireeii.
T he founder of the third orthodox fed was Imdrri MohamMed Ibn
E drees a l SH A FE I, who was born at AJkalon mPaleJtine, A. H. 150,
A .C . 772._He was of the fame Hock with Mohammed, and is diftinguiffied
by the appellation of Itndm al Motlcbi, or Koreijh Motlebi, becaufe of his j
defcent from the Prophet’ s grandfather A bdal Motleb.— He derived
his patronymick title, or furname, Shafei, from his great grandfather
Shafei Ibn Sahib__His family were at firft among the moft inveterate
of Mohammed's enemies, and his father, carrying the ftandardof the
tribe of Hashim, at the battle o f Beder, was taken prifoner by the
Mujulmans, but releafed on ranfom, and afterwards became a convert to
the faith.— Shafei is reported, by the Muffulman writers, to be the moft
accurate of all the traditionifts; and if their accounts be well founded,
nature had indeed endowed him with extraordinary talents for excelling in
that fpecies of literature.— It is faid, that at feven years of age he had got
the whole Koran by rote: at ten he had committed to memory the
Ma t t A of Malik ; and at fifteen he obtained from the college of Mecca
the degree o f a Mooftee, which gave him the privilege of palling deci-
fions on the moft difficult cafes.— He paffed the earlier part of his life at
Gdza in Palefine, (which has occafioned many to think he was born in
that place,) there completed his education, afterwards removed to Mecca,
and came to Bagdad, A . H. 195, where he gave ledums on the traditions,
and compofed his firft work, entitled the Ofool.— From Bagdad
he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and thence afterwards palled into
Egypt, where he met with Ma l ik .— It does not appear that he ever
returned from that country, but fpent the remainder of his life there, dividing
his time between the exercifes of religion, the inftrudion of the ignorant,
and the compofition of his latter works. He died at Cairo, A. H.
204, A. C. 826. Although he was forty-feven years o f age befere he
began to publiffi, and died at fifty-four, his works are more voluminous
than thofe of any other Muffulman doftor.— He was a great enemy to
the fcholaftick divines, and moft of his productions (efpecially upon tbso-
V o l . I. d logy)