Hazrat Imam Shafi was born 150 AH (767 CE) in Gaza. His full name is
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idrees Ash-Shafi. Imam Shafi belonged to a
tribe called Quraish, this is the same tribe to which Hazrat
Muhammad 
belonged to.
His father died when he was very young and was brought up by his mother.
When he was around two years of age, Imam Shafi and his mother migrated
to Makkah where he grew up.
It is said that Imam Shafi memorised the Holy Quran at the age of seven,
then he memorised Imam Malik's book Al-Muwatta (The Approved) at the
age of ten.
At the age of around thirteen he went to Madina and learned under Imam
Malik ibn Anas. Imam Malik was very impressed by his student's memory
and intelligence. He learned from many scholars of his time and became
an expert of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
Imam Shafi authored many books during his lifetime but his two most
important works are Al-Risala and Kitab-ul-Umm.
Imam Shafi was taken as a prisoner because of political problems in the
time of Khalifa (Caliph) Haroon Ar-Raheed but the charges were dropped when
he was found innocent.
Imam Shafi died in 204 AH (819 CE) in Egypt and is also buried there.
The four Muslim imams, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi and
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal were all great Muslims and very important figures
in the history of Islam. Their teachings laid the foundat...
Imam Malik's full name is Abu Abdullah Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik and he
is also known as the Shaikh of Islam. He was born 93 AH (711 CE) in
Madina. His family was originally from the
Al-Asbahi tr...
Imam Abu Hanifa's name is Numan bin Thabit and is also known as Imam-e-Azam.
He was born in 80 AH (699 CE) in Kufa, Iraq in the reign of
Abdul Malik bin Marwan. His family was of Persian origins. ...
Hazrat Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was a great Muslim Imam. His full name
is Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu Abdullah Al-Shaybani. He was born 164 AH
(780 CE)
in Baghdad. He belonged to the tribe of ...