al-Awza'i

Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awza'i (called Abu Amr) was the foremost jurist (faqih, expert in Islamic law) of Syria in the eighth century and the namesake of the Awza'i madhhab, a school of law that was once dominant in the Levant, North Africa, and Muslim Spain before dying out. His nisba "al-Awza'i" derives from the al-Awza' quarter of Damascus, named for the mixed tribes who settled there.

Tradition reports that he was born in Baalbek (in modern Lebanon) around 88 AH/707 CE, of non-Arab — possibly Sindhi — descent, and was raised in poverty in the Bekaa valley. As a young man he travelled to centres of learning such as Basra and the Yamama to collect hadith (reports of the Prophet's words and deeds), studying with teachers including al-Zuhri and Ata ibn Abi Rabah. He settled in Damascus and later moved to Beirut, then a frontier garrison town, where he taught and issued legal opinions until his death.

His legal method is traditionally described as resting on the "living tradition" — the continuous, inherited practice of the community — rather than on speculative reasoning. His positions survive largely through Abu Yusuf's refutation of them. He is also remembered for a reported act of courage: rebuking the Abbasid governor Abd Allah ibn Ali after the violent purge of the Umayyads. He died in Beirut, where his tomb is still visited.