Requesting advice from the Shaykh on following the Sunnah.

The questioner : What do you advise, of course, regarding the four schools of jurisprudence? Since we do not follow a specific school, what do you advise us to follow? If it leads, for example, to disagreement among Muslims, such as the four schools, a person might be following a specific school. What do you advise us to follow, if Allah wills? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Ah, this is an important question, in fact. My answer to this question is both general and detailed. The general part will be understood by those with knowledge, and it is that we should return to the way the righteous predecessors were. That is the general answer. I mean, were there schools of jurisprudence among the righteous predecessors? Of course, the answer is no. Were they all scholars and jurists? The answer is also no. So, two questions, both answered correctly. That society, despite not every individual in it being a scholar, still had no schools of jurisprudence. So what were they doing? They were applying the verse I mentioned in the previous session, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is the general answer. The detailed answer is preceded by: How can we return to what the first predecessors were like? That is, how can we return to having no schools of jurisprudence, and how can we return to having scholars and non-scholars in the same society? I believe this is a conviction that some may find very strange. Was the first society pure in terms of sins, to the extent of one hundred percent? Of course not. But what predominated in it was righteousness and purity. So, are we content with our society returning to be like that society, with righteousness predominating in it? A second step: Was every individual in that society ignorant? The answer is no. Were they all scholars? As mentioned before, no. The question, I hope, is the last one: Were the scholars among them filling the gap in knowledge? Yes. Was their number proportional to the number of the ignorant, such that these ignorant people found a refuge and sanctuary for their questions? Not just one mufti whom it would be difficult for them all to turn to, but rather, they had many muftis and scholars. I have clarified my question. So, was the ratio of the number of scholars to the number of the ignorant correct? Yes, meaning the ignorant found people to ask. The ignorant found people to ask. But now, the matter is not so. The reason is that knowledge has become taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), and the masses of those who are called scholars have turned away from returning to the primary sources, the Book and the Sunnah. In addition to this, those who should be occupied with knowledge until they become scholars to whom people turn when they need to ask questions, these people have occupied themselves with other matters, the least of which can be said is that they are matters whose time has not yet come.