The diversity of legal opinions in the Shâfi‘î school of thought (madhhab), in the form of old opinion (qawl qadîm) and new opinion (qawl jadîd) and the ijtihâd activities that pertained to some centuries after the passing away of al-Shâfi‘î, has brought this madhhab into encounter with serious problems in selecting the law. In such a situation, al-Râfi‘î and al-Nawawî came int…