Abu Amr Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awzai (707 - 774) was the chief representative and eponym of the Awzai school of Islamic law, which descended from the ancient Syrian school. Apparently, born in Damascus, Syria 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 (d.798) 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 (d.632).