Shams al-Din al-Ramli

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Ramli (919–1004 AH / 1513–1596 CE) was a leading Egyptian Shafi'i scholar, nicknamed 'the Small Shafi'i' for his mastery of the school. His father Shihab al-Din al-Ramli was also a major Shafi'i scholar. His most important work, Nihayat al-Muhtaj ila Sharh al-Minhaj, is regarded in the Egyptian Shafi'i tradition as the most authoritative later Shafi'i reference, alongside Ibn Hajar al-Haytami's Tuhfat al-Muhtaj. Together, these two scholars (al-Ramli for Egypt, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami for the Hijaz) define the authoritative opinions in the later Shafi'i school. Students sought him from across the Muslim world.