The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“Beware of the Firāsah of a believer for indeed he sees with the light of Allāh.”
Tirmidhi
Firāsah is spiritual insight or a special type of intuition which Allah Most High grants to the Muslims. Some believers have stronger Firāsah than others. Undoubtedly, those pious men and women who do righteous deeds and purify their hearts for the sake of Allah have a stronger Firāsah than others.
When Imam al-Shafi’i was still a young man, he travelled to the holy city of Madīna to study with the great scholar of the time, Imam Mālik bin Anas. Upon seeing him for the first time, Imam Mālik, who had great Firāsah, said to him: “O Muhammad, fear Allah and avoid disobedience because soon you will have a great affair. Allah Almighty has cast light into your heart so do not extinguish it through disobedience.”[1]
Many years later after having studied closely with Imam Malik and other great scholars of the time like Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybāni, Imam al-Shafi’i reached the level of Ijtihād and became one of the greatest scholars in the world. By then, he had developed his own Madhab which many people of knowledge and lay people began to adopt.
When the Imam entered Egypt, many of the scholars there adopted his Madhab. Amongst them was Muhammad bin Abdullāh bin Abd al-Hakam. He used to follow the Maliki Madhab like his father, but then chose to follow Imam al-Shafi’i instead after meeting him and he would enthusiastically encourage others to do the same.
Yet, Imam al-Shafi’i, who also possessed great Firāsah, would say to him, “You will soon return to the Madhab of your father.”
Ibn Abd al-Hakam had hoped that Imam al-Shafi’i would appoint him as a successor to his circle of knowledge but he instead appointed another scholar called al-Būwaytī. So after Imam al-Shafi’i passed away, he moved back to the Mālikī Madhab, just as he was told he would.[2]
[1] Biography of Imam al-Shafi’i by Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra
[2] Al-Mīzān al-Kubrā, Imam Abdul Wahāb al-Sha’rānī
Orthodox Muslim 