Explaining the reality of following the texts of the Shari'ah, and the categories of people in this regard.

Eid Abbasi : The second issue that the Salafis focus on is the issue of following; the issue of the method of taking rulings, and the method of studying the religion. It is common among people, especially in the later eras, that every person, once he reaches the age of maturity, must adopt one of the four schools of jurisprudence, for example, the school of his father. He then studies the religion within it, adheres to it, and does not contradict it in any of the issues. He follows it blindly without asking for evidence and without seeking to exercise independent legal reasoning, because independent legal reasoning has been closed off, and because he has no choice but to follow a scholar without knowing his evidence. This issue is also dangerous and important, and the Salafis differ from the majority of people in this; they hold that the original principle in studying the rulings of the Shari'ah is to take them directly from the Book and the Sunnah, following the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): "" take "" .

Another questioner : .

Eid Abbasi : .
So the original principle is then to take the rulings from the Book and the Sunnah. However, it is well known that people differ in this, and that it is not within the capability of every person to take from the Book and the Sunnah, especially after errors in recitation have spread and people have distanced themselves from the language of the Arabs, from the natural Arabic instinct, and from the innate natural disposition. They have become strangers to the language of the Qur'an and the language of the noble Prophetic hadith.
There is no doubt that it is well known from the principles of the Shari'ah that if a person is unable to do something, he is charged with what is below it. If this person is unable to take from the Book and the Sunnah, to take the rulings of his religion directly from the Book and the Sunnah, then he is as He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said, so he is lowered in degree to following. And in this, we differ from them in that they say: there is no following, only either an independent legal reasoner or one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence. This is stubbornness, and in reality, it is defiance; because it contradicts what is observed and what is felt. You see among people a scholar who has reached a far stage in knowledge; he has studied the language of the Arabs, he has studied the principles of jurisprudence, and he has taken the means of independent legal reasoning. This is the independent legal reasoner, and everyone agrees that it is permissible for him to take from the Book and the Sunnah, indeed it is obligatory for him to do so directly.
And there are the rest of the people other than this person. We see two categories, even though they differ among themselves in many degrees. These two categories are the general public who have no concern for knowledge and no study of the religion. These are the ones called those who follow a scholar without knowing his evidence. If you recite a verse to them, they do not understand it except for a few of the clear and explicit verses. And if you mention a hadith to them, they cannot know its meaning or know the way to distinguish its authenticity from its weakness. So these are charged to ask the people of knowledge. But they must also exert their effort in choosing the trusted people of knowledge who have no sectarian bias, and who are trustworthy in their religion and in their knowledge. And with that, they are not required to adhere to a specific one of them. Rather, they must, as Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: , "You do not know, so ask the people of remembrance." He did not specify a particular one, but rather it is according to what is facilitated. If so-and-so is facilitated for him, in whom he trusts in knowledge and religion, he asks him. If another is facilitated for him another time, he asks him, and he does not restrict himself or make it a habit to follow a specific scholar.
Between this one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence and that independent legal reasoner, there are many people who have concern for knowledge, study of the language, study of the Islamic sciences, study of the Qur'an, of exegesis, of hadith. We cannot say that these are like the first ones, or the ones who follow a scholar without knowing his evidence. They differ from them, and we wrong them when we equate them with them. There is no doubt that they have a virtue over them, and it is not permissible to treat them like them. If verses and hadiths are mentioned to them, they know their meanings or understand most of them in general. Of course, some meanings may be hidden from them, but if they seek the help of some scholars, they understand them and comprehend them. So these people must exert their effort, and their effort is achieved by knowing the Islamic ruling through a scholar from among the scholars, and knowing his evidence by which he reached the opinion he adopts. These people are capable of this. So how do we excuse them and be lenient with them and say to them: it is enough for you to follow a scholar? You ask the scholar: "What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in this?" and he says to you: "So-and-so." You are capable, if the evidence is mentioned to you, of understanding it. So why did you give up on that? Why did you be lenient? When in matters of the world, if you were a merchant, for example, you would not be satisfied with asking the specialist about it in a general and casual way, but rather... you scrutinize, you account, you compare, and you ask more than one person. Why do you do that in matters of the world and in matters of the religion? In matters of the world you do that, and in matters of the religion you are negligent and lenient? Is the matter of your religion lighter for you, weaker in your estimation, and less important than the matters of your world? If you are so, then wretched is your loss and misguided is your path!
So there is no doubt that there is a middle rank between the one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence and the independent legal reasoner... he is the one who looks into... with the help of an independent legal reasoner scholar after he understands his evidence, and looks into his proof and is convinced by it, and prefers among the opinions of the scholars... in his mind...
This is the position of the Salafis regarding the issue of taking Islamic rulings and the issue of studying the religion, and in our belief, it is the true, just, middle position in which there is no excess and no deficiency.