Madhhab

A madhhab (Arabic: مذهب‎ maḏhab, "way to act"; pl. مذاهب maḏāhib) is a school of thought within fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni madhhabs are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali and the Twelver Shi'i madhhab is Ja'fari.

2 Questions

What is the origin of the various Madhhabs and how many of them are there in Islam? Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

As a Somali brought up in the Shafi'i madhhab it is my understanding that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was neither a Shia nor a Sunni. If that was the case, why do I have to identify as one or the other? Amina Inloes