The Ruling on Adhering to the Four Schools of Jurisprudence
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The fourth question of the fatwa number ( 4172 )
Q 4: Whatis the ruling on being bound by the four schools of jurisprudence and following their opinions in all circumstances and times?
A 4: Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions.. And after: First: The four schools of jurisprudence are attributed to the four imams: Imam Abu Hanifah , Imam Malik , Imam al-Shafi'i , and Imam Ahmad . Thus, the Hanafi school is attributed to Abu Hanifah, and so on for the other schools. Second: These imams derived Islamic jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah, and they exercised independent legal reasoning in doing so. A scholar qualified to derive rulings is either correct, in which case he receives two rewards: the reward for his independent legal reasoning and the reward for his correctness, or he is mistaken, in which case he is rewarded for his independent legal reasoning and excused for his mistake. Third: One who is capable of deriving rulings from the Book and the Sunnah takes from them as those before him did, and it is not permissible for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence in matters where he believes the truth is otherwise; rather,
he takes what he believes to be the truth, and it is permissible for him to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence in matters where he is unable to derive a ruling and needs to do so. Fourth: One who is not capable of deriving rulings is permitted to follow a scholar in whom he feels reassurance, and if he does not feel reassurance, he should ask until he achieves reassurance. Fifth: It becomes clear from the foregoing that one should not follow their opinions in all circumstances and times; for they may err. Rather, one should follow the truth among their opinions that is supported by evidence. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.