ny form of traveling, regardless of distance or duration, allowed the individual to shorten their prayers.
al-Zahiri was known as being a prolific author, and Persian historian Ibn al-Nadim was able to personally record the names of at least 157 of al-Zahiri’s written works, the majority on topics within Islamic studies. He was also considered to be the first person to have written a biography of his former teacher, al-Shafi’i. Melchert cites Ibn al-Nadim and Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr for his claim that Zahiri’s biography of Shafi’i was the not just the first biography about Shafi’i but the first major biography of any Muslim jurist ever written. None of these works have survived to the modern era in their entirety.
Ibn al-Nadim also mentions that after al-Shafi’i's al-Risala, Ibn Hanbal and al-Zahiri were the next major Sunni figures to author works on the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, with al-Zahiri producing a number of works on topics including his rejection of blindly following clergymen, the difference between general and specific verses of the Qur’an, the difference between succinct and detailed commands in the religion, and his views on and experiences with his former teacher, al-Shafi’i.
Modern scholarship has pieced together chapter headings for al-Zahiri’s work on juristic principles from other early works in the following order: binding consensus, invalidity of blindly following clergy, invalidity of analogical reason, traditions transmitted by single authorities, traditions which provide certainty, incontrovertible proof, particular vs. general scriptural texts and specified vs. unspecified texts.
The chapters – and perhaps even the information contained therein – have primarily been preserved by the work of Fatimid writer Qadi al-Nu’man, in addition to passages in Al-Muhalla of Sunni jurist Ibn Hazm, an adherent of al-Zahiri’s legal school.
Although al-Zahiri’s religious views were and are considered controversial, his character and religious piety carry universal acclaim. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Al-Suyuti, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, al-Dhahabi, Al-Nawawi and al-Tabari all attested to his morality, humility and personal ethics.
While al-Zahiri’s school is not as numerous today as the other four major schools of Sunni thought, the Zahiri, or “Dawudi” school as they were known in Islam’s early stages, was once a major school and encompassed Mesopotamia, the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, North Africa and Southern Iran. Even his contemporary critics conceded to his intellect and level of knowledge, even while rejecting his beliefs.
He has been described as “the scholar of the era” by al-Dhahabi, and the hierarchy of religious knowledge in Baghdad was considered to have ended with al-Zahiri at the top. When al-Tabari was asked regarding the books of Ibn Qutaybah, he answered that Ibn Qutaybah’s work was “nothing,” and recommended the books of the “people of jurisprudence,” mentioning al-Shafi’i and al-Zahiri by name, then “their contemporaries.”
Members of other schools have often criticized al-Zahiri for his rejection of analogical reasoning. The early followers of al-Shafi’i in general held negative views of their former classmate, and from the followers of the Shafi’ite school Al-Juwayni in particular was harsh upon al-Zahiri himself. al-Dhahabi, however, defended al-Zahiri and his followers, stating that just as al-Juwayni had arrived to his views by the process of scholarly discourse, so had al-Zahiri.
Likewise, Ibn al-Salah also defended the legitimacy of al-Zahiris views and his school, listing a number of figures from the other Sunni schools of thought who considered al-Zahiri’s opinions in scholarly discourse.
Shi’ites have taken a dimmer view of al-Zahiri and his school. In the 1970s, Twelver Shi’ite scholar Abdul Kareem Mushtaq accused al-Zahiri of having held anthropotheistic beliefs regarding God, citing Sunni historian al-Shahrastani as his source. Nearly four decades later, the section of al-Shahrastani’s work was translated into English, demonstrating that al-Shahrastani had actually 