Shafi'i school in the context of "Maddhab"

Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan. Estimates include 97.3% in 2020 by The World Factbook and 99.2% in the 2006 Demographic and Health Survey according to Pew Research Center of the population identifying as Muslim. A majority of them belong to the Shia branch (55–65% of Muslims), while a significant minority (35%–45%) are Sunni. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.

Shia Muslims in the country typically adhere to the Ja'fari school of Shia Islam, while most Sunni Muslims either the Hanafi or Shafi'i school. Due to many decades of Soviet atheist policy, Muslim religious affiliation in Azerbaijan is largely cultural and ethnic rather than religious. Shia Islam is prevalent in the western, central, and southern regions of the country. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lankaran region are considered Shia strongholds. In contrast, Sunni Islam is dominant in the northern regions.

The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence, the Maturidi and Ash'ari creeds, a variety of Sufi orders, including the Qadiri, Chishti, Naqshbandi and Suhrawardi orders, as well as many other orders of Sufism, and has hundreds of millions of followers across the world. They consider themselves to be the continuation of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy before the rise of Salafism and the Deobandi movement.

The Barelvi movement is spread across the globe with millions of followers, thousands of mosques, institutions, and organizations in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, South Africa and other parts of Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.

Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (Arabic: أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد بْن جَرِير بْن يَزِيد ٱلطَّبَرِيّ; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (Arabic: ٱلطَّبَرِيّ), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day Iran. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari is widely known for his historical works and expertise in Quranic exegesis, and has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath". He authored works on a diverse range of subjects, including world history, poetry, lexicography, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine. Among his most famous and influential works are his Quranic commentary, Tafsir al-Tabari, and historical chronicle, Tarikh al-Tabari.

Al-Tabari followed the Shafi'i school for nearly a decade before he developed his own interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence. His understanding of it was both sophisticated and remarkably fluid, and, as such, he continued to develop his ideas and thoughts on juristic matters right until the end of his life.

Al-Shafi'i (Arabic: الشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-Shāfiʿī; IPA: [a(l) ʃaːfiʕiː] ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, having authored one of the earliest work on the subject: al-Risala. His legacy and teaching on the matter provided it with a systematic form, thereby "fundamentally influencing the succeeding generations which are under his direct and obvious impact," and "beginning a new phase of the development of legal theory."

Born in Gaza, Palestine, to the Banu Muttalib clan of the Quraysh tribe, he relocated at the age of two and was raised in Mecca. He later resided in Medina, Yemen, Baghdad in Iraq, and Egypt, and also served as a judge for some time in Najran.

Canonized Islamic scripture are texts which Muslims believe were revealed by God through various prophets throughout humanity's history—specifically the Quran and Hadith. Muslims believe the Quran to be the final revelation of God to mankind, and a completion and confirmation of previous scriptures, revealed to Muhammad between 610 and 632 CE, and canonized around 650 by the Rashidun leader Uthman.

Hadith (the record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of Muhammad) are also considered by many to be divine revelation, directing Muslims on a broader number of rules than the Quran, including the rules of Sharia (Islamic law). The major compilations, especially that of the Six Books, primarily took place in the ninth century, with their canonization occurring later. The two most important compilations, (the Sahihayn), are Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. These were canonized by Shafi'i's in the 10th century CE, by the Malikis and Hanbali school of fiqh in the 12th CE century, and by Hanafi's in the 14th century. Different collections of hadith would come to differentiate the different branches of the Islamic faith.