The ruling on studying Islamic jurisprudence according to one of the four schools of jurisprudence?

Question : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. When we sought knowledge and wanted to study Islamic jurisprudence and its issues, we heard two opinions from the scholars of this time. Some say that one should not begin by studying a specific school of jurisprudence, but rather must study the verified issues. Others say that one must proceed gradually, by studying a specific school for the beginner, then advancing by examining the evidence until the student is able to weigh the evidence and opinions against each other. So what is the definitive opinion on these issues?

Answer : I hold that a student of knowledge should focus his pursuit of knowledge on a specific thing above all else, because if he begins looking at the statements of people, he will be lost and will not have any settled knowledge. So let him look at which school of jurisprudence is closest, and let him build his jurisprudence upon it. For example, if he sees that the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is the closest of the schools to the Sunnah, because Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is called the Imam of the people of the Sunnah, and by the consensus of people he is the most knowledgeable of the four Imams regarding the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the reports of the Companions and the generation after the Companions, then he says, "I will study jurisprudence according to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal," so that he may have a skill that enables him to review the statements of other scholars and weigh those statements against each other. So I hold that this path is better than the student beginning to stumble around in the statements of scholars until he is lost and does not have elevated knowledge. Therefore, you will find that those who do not study jurisprudence according to a specific school have deviations and weak statements that those who study jurisprudence according to a specific school do not have. And you will find that those who study jurisprudence according to one of the schools have a firmness in knowledge, verification, placing things in their proper context, and establishing things based on principles that the others do not have. And if you turn away from this, for example, this is Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). No one doubts that he is among the scholars who exercise independent legal reasoning, except one who does not know his status. As for one who knows his status, he does not doubt that the man is among the scholars who exercise independent legal reasoning with absolute independent legal reasoning. And yet, he studied jurisprudence according to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he always says in his writings, fatwas, and books, "Our companions have two statements regarding that," meaning by that the companions of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. So this is what I hold: that a person should begin his study of jurisprudence according to a specific school, and then when he has the skill and ability to weigh opinions, he should look at the other schools so that his gratitude is not lost and he does not become scattered.