“If al-Ġazālī is a Prophet, the Waǧīz is His Miracle”: Abu Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī’s Codification of Šāfiʿī Law

Abstract The contributions of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī (d. 505/1111) to philosophy, theology, logic, metaphysics, and Sufism have been widely analysed. However, few scholars have studied his role as a jurist, even though he authored ten works on Šāfiʿī law, works that were celebrated in contemporary and later scholarly circles, and earned him the title “the second al-Šāfiʿī.” In this article, I examine his two texts in Islamic law, the Waǧīz and Ḫulāṣa , in an effort to shed light on the history of codification in the Šāfiʿī school. I argue that al-Ġazālī wrote these texts following upon his two earlier lengthy commentaries in which he canonised school doctrine. In the Waǧīz and Ḫulāṣa , he tried to standardise school doctrine by presenting concise, structured and authoritative views, and offering straightforward rulings with little discussion of internal disagreement. Al-Ġazālī’s contributions to substantive law challenge the prevailing wisdom on the early history of legal codification. In fact, al-Ġazālī sought to codify Šāfiʿī law, and his efforts had a significant influence on the later trajectories of Islamic law, providing a blueprint for many subsequent codifications.