Imam Shafi'i, full name Al-Shafi'i or Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, was a prominent Islamic scholar, jurist, and theologian. He was born in 767 CE in Gaza, Palestine, and died in 820 CE in Egypt. Imam Shafi'i is considered one of the four major Sunni Islamic jurists, known as the founders of the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
The Shafi'i school, named after Imam Shafi'i, is one of the four main Sunni schools of Islamic law, alongside the Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali schools. Followers of the Shafi'i school are known as Shafi'is, and their legal interpretations are particularly influential in regions such as Southeast Asia, East Africa, and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.