Shihab ad-Din ar-Ramli

Shihab ad-Din Ahmad ibn Hamzah ar-Ramli (877-957 AH / 1472-1550 CE) was a leading Shafi'i jurist of Mamluk and early Ottoman Egypt. Born in Ramla, Palestine, he settled in Cairo where he became one of the foremost Shafi'i authorities of his era. He studied under major scholars including Zakariyya al-Ansari, the great Shafi'i scholar of that period.

Ar-Ramli's most enduring contribution is through his son Muhammad ibn Ahmad ar-Ramli (known as ash-Sheikh ar-Ramli, 919-1004 AH), but Shihab ad-Din himself was a major figure in his own right. He authored works on Shafi'i jurisprudence and served as a judge. His opinions and rulings were highly influential in the development of the late Shafi'i tradition in Egypt.

He is known as the father of Khatib ash-Shirbini and his own son Muhammad ar-Ramli, both of whom became major scholars. The ar-Ramli family represented one of the most distinguished scholarly lineages in 10th century AH Egypt. His juristic positions contributed to shaping the later Shafi'i positions that became dominant in Egypt.

Shihab ad-Din ar-Ramli passed away in approximately 957 AH in Cairo. While he is less famous individually than his son, he was a respected scholar whose students and descendants became central figures in the continuation of the Shafi'i legal tradition in Ottoman Egypt. His role as a teacher of major scholars of the following generation ensures his place in the history of the Shafi'i school.