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Imam al-Shafi’i was born in Gaza in 150 AH/769 AD. His father died when he was very young and his mother consequently moved them to Mecca, where his father’ s tribe was from. He began his education in Mecca by sitting in on the lectures of many scholars. It is said that he had memorized the entire Quran by age 7 and the entire Muwatta of Imam Malik by age 10. He spent time among the Hazeel tribe outside of Mecca to learn Arabic language and poetry. He also gained skill in archery and horse riding.

Around the age of 20, al-Shafi’i left Mecca for Medina to study religion under the great Imam Malik. It was very difficult to get a position learning from Imam Malik at the time, so the governor of Mecca wrote al-Shafi’i a letter of recommendation. However, the letter didn’t help. It was through later demonstration of his speaking skills that al-Shafi’i would be admitted to Imam Malik’s school. He studied with Imam Malik for 10 years and learned from other great scholars of Medina while there.