Mazhab ini dinamakan sempena nama ulama Syria 'AbdurRahman ibn al-Awzaa'ee yang dilahirkan di Ba'labek pada tahun 708.

This Madh-hab is named after the Syrian scholar ‘AbdurRahman ibn al-Awzaa’ee who was born in Ba’labek in the year 708

CE. Beliau terkenal sebagai salah seorang ulama besar hadis pada abad kelapan Masihi dan menentang penggunaan qiyas yang berlebihan serta bentuk penalaran lain dalam hal-hal yang terdapat nas yang jelas daripada al-Qur’an dan/atau Sunnah. Imam al-Awza‘i menghabiskan sebahagian besar hidupnya di Beirut dan akhirnya wafat di sana pada tahun 774 Masihi, namun mazhab beliau tersebar luas di Syria, Jordan, Palestin dan Lubnan serta juga di Sepanyol.

CE. He became known as one of the major scholars of Hadeeth of the eighth century CE and was opposed to the excessive use of Qiyaas and other forms of reasoning in cases where clear texts from the Qur’aan and or Sunnah were available. Imaam Awzaa’ee spent most of his life in Beirut, eventually dying there in the year 774 CE, but his Madh-hab became widespread in Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon as well as in Spain.

Mazhabnya kekal sebagai mazhab utama di Syria sehingga abad kesepuluh Masihi, apabila Abu Zar'ah Muhammad bin 'Uthmaan dari mazhab Syafi'i dilantik sebagai qadhi Damsyik. Abu Zar'ah memulakan amalan memberikan hadiah seratus dinar kepada mana-mana pelajar yang menghafal kitab Mukhtasar al-Muzanee (sebuah kitab asas dalam fiqh Syafi'i). Tidak dapat dinafikan, amalan ini menyebabkan mazhab Syafi'i tersebar dengan pantas di Syria, dan bilangan pengikut al-Awza'i terus merosot sehingga abad kesebelas, apabila tiada seorang pun lagi yang dapat ditemui.132 Namun, sumbangannya dalam ilmu fiqh telah dicatatkan dan masih kekal hingga ke hari ini dalam kebanyakan kitab fiqh perbandingan.

His Madh-hab remained the main school of thought in Syria until the tenth century CE, when Abu Zar’ah Muhammad ibn ‘Uthmaan of the Shaafi’ee Madh-hab was appointed judhe of Damascus. Abu Zar’ah began the practice of giving a prize of one hundred dinars to any student who memorized the book, Mukhtasr al-Muzanee, ( a basic book of Shaafi’ee Fiqh). Naturally, this practice caused the Shaafi’ee Madh-hab to spread rapidly in Syria and the number of Awzaa’ee’s followers continued to dwindle until the eleventh century when none were to be found.132 However, his contributions to the science of Fiqh were recorded and remain to this day in most of the books of comparative Fiqh.