The Ruling on Seeking Dispensations and Choosing Opinions in Cases of Disagreement

Question:
We are a group of students of knowledge, among your lovers for the sake of Allah, if Allah wills. We read in some religious books and find issues where each of the four Imams—al-Shafi'i, al-Maliki, al-Hanafi, and al-Hanbali—has an opinion. Which one should we follow? And is it permissible for us to take, in each issue individually, what we see as suitable for our circumstances from the opinion of one of the Imams? Also, a related question asks: What is the ruling on one who asks more than one scholar in order to follow the easiest opinion or to seek out their easy fatwas? Is this the meaning of the question?

Answer:
As for issues of consensus, no one has the right to abandon them. What the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have agreed upon is obligatory to follow and to stand firm upon, because Allah the Exalted does not gather them upon falsehood. This Ummah does not agree upon falsehood. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So if they gather, a group from among them is upon the truth.
As for issues of disagreement among the four Imams and others from the people of knowledge, it is not permissible for a person to follow his desires, seek out dispensations, or follow his own inclination in taking whatever he wishes from their opinions when they differ, or in taking whatever he wishes from the fatwas of the scholars of his time based solely on his inclination. No, rather, it is obligatory to seek the truth. If one is from the people of knowledge, he seeks the truth; so he takes what is closest to the evidence and proof. Not because it is the opinion of al-Shafi'i, nor because it is the opinion of Abu Hanifah, nor because it is the opinion of Malik, nor because it is the opinion of Ahmad, nor because it is the opinion of the Zahiris, or the opinion of al-Thawri, or the opinion of so-and-so. No, rather, he takes it because it is closest to the truth and because the evidence with it is clearer. This is what is obligatory upon the people of knowledge: to take what is closest to the evidence and clearest in proof from all the differing Islamic opinions. And so it is with the fatwas of his time. However, if one is a layperson who does not know the evidence and is not skilled at distinguishing, then he asks the people of knowledge. He seeks the one who is closest to goodness in his belief, his scholarly appearance, and his righteous deeds. He seeks the one closest to goodness, asks him for a fatwa, and acts upon it; because he does not have the tools that help him in determining the stronger position. Yes.