The Ruling on Following the Four Schools of Jurisprudence

Question:
May Allah reward you. Is a person required to follow the four schools of jurisprudence, or must he choose only one?

Answer:
If he is a scholar who is self-sufficient and does not need others, it is not permissible for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence. However, if he is unable to do anything but follow a scholar without knowing his evidence, it is obligatory for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence, and he must not let go of what is obligatory. Either he has the qualification to derive rulings from their evidence, and this is only for the absolute independent legal reasoning scholar, such as the four imams and other imams of the earliest generations. Or, if a person has not reached this level—and this is the current situation, this is the current situation—there is no absolute independent legal reasoning scholar in our knowledge, no absolute independent legal reasoning scholar who meets the conditions of independent legal reasoning. Therefore, it is necessary to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence, following one of the four schools of jurisprudence, because all of them, praise be to Allah, are the schools of the people of the Sunnah and the community.