Warning Against the Permissibility of Adhering to a Single School of Jurisprudence in Issuing Rulings, and That Refraining from Issuing a Ruling Is Preferable If the Scholar Does Not Base It on a Proof from the Book

The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim who adheres to a single school of jurisprudence, when asked for a ruling on an issue, to issue a ruling based on his school, because there are other schools of jurisprudence. Thus, he must refrain from issuing a ruling. If he does issue a ruling, he is sinful, as evidenced by this hadith, in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning: without a chain of narration and proof. So his sin is upon the one who issued the ruling. The one who says: "The flow of blood invalidates the ablution" or "does not invalidate it," or "it invalidates it if it is much and does not invalidate it if it is little"—whatever the answer may be, if the one who gave it did not base it on a foundation from the Book or the Sunnah, then the sin is upon him, not upon the one seeking a ruling. Why? Because the one seeking a ruling has fulfilled his obligation when his Lord said to him: . This person who does not know came to someone he thought was among the people of knowledge, asked him, and he issued a ruling for him. So the sin is upon this mufti. This mufti, when asked, must fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and not issue a ruling except based on certainty, proof, and a chain of narration. If he does not do so, he is sinful. Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) drew attention to this reality when he said: "It is not permissible for a man to issue a ruling based on my words unless he knows from where I took my evidence." This is a text from Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him), the first of the four imams, who explains this hadith for us. This hadith says: . So Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is not permissible for a man to issue a ruling based on my words unless he knows from where I took my evidence." So this Hanafi who was asked: "Does the flow of blood invalidate the ablution?" and answered "Yes," is not permitted to do so by the ruling of this hadith and the statement of the preceding imam, because he did not know his evidence. The meaning of this, or the outcome of this hadith, is the obligation to study the Book and the Sunnah so that the mufti is able to issue a ruling based on evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, so that he does not incur sin, and so that he is safe from what would happen if he erred in the ruling. Because it is not the case that one who issues a ruling relying on the Book and the Sunnah is infallible from error. No, but if he exerts effort and issues a ruling based on what he understood from the Book and the Sunnah, he has two states: either he was correct, in which case he has two rewards, or he erred, in which case he has one reward. But this—meaning the two rewards if he was correct and the one reward if he erred—is only for the one who issues a ruling relying on the Book and the Sunnah. As for the one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence, and following a scholar without knowing his evidence is ignorance by the consensus of the scholars, and he does not look into the ruling, he has no reward, not even one reward, but rather he bears a burden, because he issued a ruling without certainty and without clear proof and evidence. The outcome of this hadith is the obligation to refer to the scholar in everything, and that the scholar issues rulings based on the Book and the Sunnah.