Al-Sarakhsi
Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Abi Sahl Abu Bakr Al-Sarakhsi (Persian: محمد بن احمد بن ابي سهل ابو بكر السرخسي), was a Persian jurist and also an Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school of thought. He was traditionally known as Shams al-A’imma (شمس الأئمة; transl. The sun of the leaders).
He is an influential jurist in the Hanafi school where the tradition is reported to have been that: “when in doubt, follow Sarakhsi”. Both Al-Kasani and Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani, in their flagship fiqh books of Bada’i’ al-Sana’i’ and Al-Hidaya, have extensively drawn upon the discussions and legal reasonings presented in al-Sarakhsi’s Al-Mabsut and Usul al-Sarakhsi.
The Indian Muslim scholar of the 19th century, Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi, classifies al-Sarakhsi in the second grade of mujtahids, along with scholars such as Al-Tahawi, who are believed to be the seminal jurists after Abu Hanifa’s students (i.e. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani).
