Al-Shāfiʿī was born in Gaza; some report ʿAsqalān, while others say Yemen, in the year 150 AH. His father died when he was still a child, so his mother carried him to Mecca when he was two years old, fearing that his lineage might be lost. There he was reared. He recited the Quran when he was seven years old (1), memorised the Muwaṭṭaʾ at ten, and issued legal opinions at fifteen. Some say at eighteen, after his teacher Muslim ibn Khālid al-Zanjī (2) gave him licence to do so.

He devoted himself to Arabic language and poetry, dwelling among the tribe of Hudhayl for roughly ten years—some say twenty—mastering their dialects and eloquence. He heard a vast number of hadiths from many shaykhs and leading scholars. He then recited the Muwaṭṭaʾ to Mālik from memory, and Mālik was impressed by his precision and determination, and thereafter transmitted to him the knowledge of the Hijaz, following his earlier study with Muslim ibn Khālid (3).

A great multitude received knowledge from him; we have already (4) listed their names alphabetically.

He learned the Quranic recitation from Ismāʿīl ibn Qusṭanṭīn, who took it from Shibl, from Ibn Kathīr, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—through Jibrīl, from Allah—exalted is He.

In jurisprudence he studied under Muslim ibn Khālid, who had taken from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn al-Zubayr, and others, from a number of Companions—among them ʿUmar, ʿAlī (5), Ibn Masʿūd, Zayd ibn Thābit, and others—all from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He also studied under Mālik, drawing on the latter’s own teachers.

Likewise, many scholars trained under him, as we have recorded—together with those who came after them up to our own day—in a separate compilation; and to Allah belong all praise and grace.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated from Abū Bishr al-Dūlābī, from Muḥammad ibn Idrīs, the scribe of al-Ḥumaydī, from al-Ḥumaydī, from al-Shāfiʿī: that he was appointed judge in Najrān, Yemen. The locals then became hostile to him and denounced him to Hārūn al-Rashīd, claiming he aspired to the caliphate. He was therefore brought to Baghdad, fettered and mounted on a mule. He entered the city in 184 AH at the age of thirty, met with al-Rashīd, and there debated before him with Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan (6), who spoke highly in his defence, and Muḥammad ibn