Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i

Apparently born in Baalbek, Lebanon in 707, very little of al-Awzai's writings survive, but his style of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is preserved in Abu Yusuf's book Al-radd ala siyar al-Awzai, in particular his reliance on the "living tradition," or the uninterrupted practice of Muslims handed down from preceding generations. For Awzai, this is the true Sunnah of Muhammad. Awzai's school flourished in Syria, the Maghreb, and Al Andalus but was eventually overcome by the Maliki school of Islamic law in the 9th century. However, given his authority and reputation as a Sunni Imam and pious ancestry, his views retain potential as a source of law and a basis for alternative legal approaches and solutions. He died in 774 and was buried near Beirut, Lebanon, where his tomb is still visited.[2]

As with Malik ibn Anas, al-Awza'i holds that one is not permitted to kill civilians even if it seems necessary in order to achieve a military objective, and declared that killing women and children is never permissible during warfare.[3]

Theologically he was known as a persecutor of the Qadaris, but also one of the main historical witnesses of them. He alleged that the Qadaris merely appropriated heretical doctrines from the Christians. Awzāʿī had met their founder Maʿbad.[4]

al-Awzai, differed with most schools of fiqh in holding that apostates from Islam ought not to be executed unless their apostasy is part of a 'plot to take over the State', i.e. treason.[5]

• Biodata at MuslimScholars.info