Imām Ash-shāfi'l studied under two of his predecessors. These are

Imām Ash-shāfi'l studied under two of his predecessors, Mālik and Abū Hanīfah. Mālik was the founder of the Maliki school of jurisprudence, and Abū Hanīfah was the founder of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Both of them were prominent scholars of Islamic law and had a significant influence on the development of Islamic jurisprudence. Ash-shāfi'l studied under them and combined their teachings with his own to create his own school of jurisprudence, known as the Shafi'i school. The Shafi'i school is one of the four main schools of Islamic jurisprudence and is widely followed in many parts of the world today.