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The Ris?la of al-Sh?fi ?± (d. 204/820), the earliest preserved work of Islamic legal theory, has been understood in previous scholarship as either the elaboration of a hierarchy of sources of law (Qur ?n, Sunna, consensus, and analogical reasoning) or an extended defense of the Sunna. Through a careful rereading of this celebrated text, this book offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of the Ris?la , in which Sh?fi ?± formulated an all-encompassing hermeneutic that portrays the law as a tightly interlocking structure organized around defined interactions of the Qur ?n and the Sunna. Topics covered include Sh?fi ?± ?s creative account of the law ?s architectonics, hermeneutical techniques, legal epistemology, relationship to kal?m , and the role of consensus ( ijm? ).