The Meaning of Imam Ahmad’s Statement: Do Not Follow Malik or Abu Hanifah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: What is the meaning of Imam Ahmad's (may Allah have mercy on him) statement, "Do not follow Malik or Abu Hanifah, but take from where they took"?
Answer:
Imam Ahmad is addressing a scholar like himself who is capable of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and deriving rulings. It is not permissible for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence (taqlid). As for the one who is unable, he may follow a scholar without knowing his evidence (taqlid) out of dire necessity.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: What is the meaning of Imam Ahmad's (may Allah have mercy on him) statement, "Do not follow Malik or Abu Hanifah, but take from where they took"?
Answer:
Imam Ahmad is addressing a scholar like himself who is capable of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and deriving rulings. It is not permissible for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence (taqlid). As for the one who is unable, he may follow a scholar without knowing his evidence (taqlid) out of dire necessity.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح السنة للبربهاري، التمسك بالآثار - الحذر من ضرب القرآن بالسنة — islamhouse.com (57:04)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.