The Obligation of Following the Book and the Sunnah for All Muslims in Every Time and Place

The Shaykh : The call includes, in its invitation as detailed previously, all Muslims, whether they are scholars or not. All of them are commanded to follow the Book and the Sunnah. However, the scholar does so independently, while the non-scholar does so by following the scholar. The clear distinction in the Salafi call is that the unlettered Salafi does not say, “My madhhab is such-and-such, so give me a ruling according to my madhhab.” As for the non-Salafi, he says, “My madhhab is such-and-such; so what is the ruling?” This distinction is one of the apparent, fundamental differences between the Salafi call and the Khalafi call. The word used here means leaving the general Muslim population on their madhhabs. When one is faced with an issue, he asks about his madhhab, and the other, when faced with an issue, asks about his madhhab. And the Muslim society remains like this, with the son inheriting from his father a rigidity toward the madhhab, and acting according to the Book and the Sunnah becomes a forgotten thing.
So, those who fear that the Salafi call will mislead the masses of Muslims—this fear did not come to them except because of their ignorance of the Salafi call. And if we are in agreement—and I hope we are in agreement—that it is obligatory to restore the first Islamic life, then there was no madhhab-following in the first Islamic life, even though there were scholars and non-scholars in it. What those who were not scholars used to do is what must be done in every time and in every place.
I see that the brother there is insisting on his question, so please go ahead.