The reason for adhering to the four opinions and schools of jurisprudence

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

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The second question of the fatwa number ( 5166 )

Q 2: What is the reason for our adherence to the four opinions and schools of jurisprudence, and what is the relationship between them and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and did the Messenger know that they would come after him, and will Allah ask the Ummah on the Day of Resurrection
about the four schools of jurisprudence, or about whom they followed from the four schools of jurisprudence, and is it true in the Islamic religion that we choose one of them and follow it, and what is the ruling on choosing that, and what is meant by the four schools of jurisprudence, and if a Muslim man did not follow any of the four schools of jurisprudence, does he have a sin?
A 2: Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions.. And after: First: The reason for adhering to the four opinions and schools of jurisprudence is: that they are based originally on the sources of legislation from the Book, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, analogical reasoning, and other evidence. Second: The relationship between the four Imams and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is: that the Sunnah brought by him (peace and blessings be upon him) is a source of legislation upon which they relied, so they are followers of his Sunnah (peace and blessings be upon him). Third: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know that they would come after him; because this is from the knowledge of the unseen, and it is the exclusive domain of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) does not know of the unseen except what Allah revealed to him, and we do not know of any evidence indicating that Allah revealed this to him, as He the Exalted said:

Say, "None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected."

قُلْ لاَ يَعْلَمُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلا اللَّهُ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ

[An-Naml 27:65]

, and He
the Exalted said:

⁽²⁶⁾ [He is] Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone ⁽²⁷⁾ Except whom He has approved of messengers, and indeed, He sends before each messenger and behind him observers

عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا (26) إِلا مَنِ ارْتَضَى مِنْ رَسُولٍ فَإِنَّهُ يَسْلُكُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ رَصَدًا

[Al-Jinn 72:26-27]

. Fourth: It is obligatory for the Muslim to learn the matters of his religion and ask the people of knowledge about what is difficult for him, as He the Exalted said:

So ask the people of the message if you do not know.

فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

[An-Nahl 16:43]

, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) does not ask people on the Day of Resurrection about the four schools of jurisprudence, nor about whom they followed from the four schools of jurisprudence, but the questioning is about following the Shari'ah of Allah and responding to His messengers, He the Exalted said:

⁽⁹²⁾ So by your Lord, We will surely question them all ⁽⁹³⁾ About what they used to do.

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْأَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ (92) عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

[Al-Hijr 15:92-93]

, and He the Exalted said:

And [mention] the Day He will call them and say, "What did you answer the messengers?"

وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

[Al-Qasas 28:65]

. Fifth: The four schools of jurisprudence are: the school of Abu Hanifa, and Malik ibn Anas, and Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah be pleased with them), and each of them derived what Allah opened up to him from the fiqh of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the consensus of the Ummah, and the analogy of some matters to others if they are similar and share the operative cause, and that there is no effective
difference between them, and they are independent legal reasoners, and the independent legal reasoner, if he is correct, has two rewards: the reward of his independent legal reasoning and the reward of his correctness, and if he errs, he has the reward of his independent legal reasoning, and his error is forgiven, and what they derived from fiqh is presented to the sources of legislation, so what is found to have a legal basis is adopted, and what is not found to have a basis from the evidence is rejected, for from each of them is taken and rejected, except Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So whoever is able to take the rulings with their evidence, it is obligatory for him to do so, and whoever is not able, it is obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge about what is difficult for him. And by this it is known that one follows from the schools what is based on legal evidence, as long as it is not contradicted by something stronger, and that it is not permissible for a person to rely on a school and act according to everything in it; regardless of the legal basis for what he takes, and that he is not required to take from one school of them, but rather, if he is from the people of knowledge, he must take from the evidence, otherwise he asks the people of knowledge about what is difficult for him as mentioned before. 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.

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