Explaining the obligation upon scholars to strive to follow the Book and the Sunnah, and mentioning the words of the verifying scholars regarding that.

The Shaykh : And if this is the status of taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) among the scholars, then that means it is not permissible for those of knowledge who are capable of knowing the truth by its evidence to speak in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) except with what came in the Book and the Sunnah; because true knowledge is only in them, not in the opinions of men. Therefore, Imam al-Shafi'i said in "al-Risalah": "The obligation upon the layperson is that they do not speak except from where they have knowledge. And he spoke in knowledge of what, if he had refrained from some of what he spoke of, refraining would have been better for him and closer to safety for him, if Allah wills." And he said in another place: "It is never permissible for anyone to say about anything that it is lawful or forbidden except from the direction of knowledge, and the direction of knowledge is the report of the Book or the Sunnah or ijma' (scholarly consensus) or qiyas (analogical reasoning)." And he said in another place: "And if he spoke without a necessary report or qiyas, he would be closer to sin than the one who spoke while not knowing. And Allah did not make it permissible for anyone after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to speak except from the direction of knowledge that preceded him, and the direction of knowledge thereafter is the Book, the Sunnah, ijma', the athar (reports from a Companion or successor), and the qiyas upon them that I described."
And among the greatest calamities that befall the particular Muslims, let alone the general public, is that most of them today and before today, from the generations, are in complete ignorance of what these texts from the Book, the Sunnah, and the athar from the Companions and the sayings of the imams have conveyed regarding the condemnation of taqlid, and that it is not knowledge, and that knowledge is only "Allah said" and "The Messenger of Allah said." Therefore, it hardly occurs to any of them that the knowledge praised in the Book and the Sunnah is only the knowledge of what came in them of beliefs and rulings, and that the scholars who were praised in them are only the people of knowledge of what is in them, not those who know their sayings, their ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), and their opinions. Therefore, you see them confused between them, not knowing which of them conforms to the Book and the Sunnah and which contradicts it. Likewise, it never occurs to any of them, when they read in the hadiths of the signs of the Hour—for example: —that the ignorance of the muqallid (one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence) is included in it, because he has no knowledge, as previously mentioned from the imams. And they never stop, when they hear the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , that the scholars are only in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Indeed, we have often heard many of them wanting this hadith on the occasion of the death of one of the sheikhs of taqlid. And they also misunderstand the rest of the hadith: , and the wording of al-Bukhari is: . They think that the intended meaning is the laypeople who have no knowledge of traditional fiqh and no knowledge of the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence). The truth is that this description includes the muqallids who were content with knowledge of the ijtihad of the imams and following them in it without insight. As previously indicated in the words of "Ibn 'Abd al-Barr al-Andalusi," and this is supported by the scholars' use of this hadith as evidence for the permissibility of the time being devoid of a mujtahid (a scholar qualified to derive rulings), with details mentioned in "Fath al-Bari." They indicated by that that the intended meaning of "scholars" in the beginning of the hadith is the mujtahid scholars, and "heads" in the end of the hadith is the ignorant muqallids.
And the secret of this complete ignorance that we referred to is their ignorance—also—of the reality of knowledge and who the scholar is to whom the verses and hadiths are directed whenever they are mentioned, such as His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): , and His saying: , and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , narrated by al-Tirmidhi, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , narrated by Muslim, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , narrated by al-Hakim, and other than that of the many verses and hadiths regarding the virtue of knowledge and scholars.
And al-Hafiz "Ibn 'Abd al-Barr" established a specific chapter in his aforementioned book "Jami' al-'Ilm" to explain this reality, saying: "Chapter on knowing the principles of knowledge and its reality, and what the name of fiqh and knowledge absolutely applies to." And the scholar "al-Fullani" followed him in his book "Iqadh Hamam Uli al-Abasar." Then he mentioned underneath it some of the hadiths and athar that testify to it. And "al-Fullani" concluded that by saying: "I say: These hadiths and athar are explicit that the name of knowledge is only applied to what is in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and ijma', or what is measured by these principles when there is no text regarding it, according to those who hold that view, not to what the people of taqlid and partisanship have been accustomed to, in restricting knowledge to what is recorded in the books of madhhab opinion, while some of that contradicts the texts of the Prophetic hadiths."
In summary: Taqlid is condemned because it is ignorance and not knowledge, and true knowledge is knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah and deriving fiqh from them. One might say: Not everyone is able to be a scholar in this sense. We say: Yes, that is so. But who disputes that, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: , and says: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to those who issued fatwas out of ignorance: ? In any case, the discussion was not about determining who is able to do that and who is not, but the context of our speech indicates that it is focused on the particular ones who are thought to be from the people of knowledge, and who are capable of knowing the issues or at least some of them by evidence. And they are in reality scholars of the sayings of the madhahib, ignorant of the Book and the Sunnah. So the question is not relevant at all; especially since I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that the usul (principles) text mentioned provided us with two important matters:
The first: That taqlid is not beneficial knowledge, and I have clarified that with what is sufficient, if Allah wills.
And the other matter: That it is the function of the ignorant layperson; so the capable scholar who knows the evidences is excluded from it, and he is the one whose function is not taqlid, but rather ijtihad or at least following.
And this is what clarifies the explanation of the other matter; therefore, I say: "Ibn 'Abd al-Barr" said after what was previously quoted from him, summarizing: "And all this is for other than the general public; for the general public must follow their scholars when a case befalls them, because they do not discern the argument, and they do not reach knowledge of it due to lack of understanding; because knowledge has degrees, and there is no way to its highest level except by attaining its lowest level. And this is the barrier between the general public and seeking the argument, and Allah knows best."
The scholars did not differ that the general public must follow their scholars, and that they are the intended ones by the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): . And they agreed that the blind person must follow someone else in whom he trusts regarding knowledge of the qiblah (the direction of prayer) if it becomes difficult for him, and likewise the one who has no knowledge and no sight of what he knows.
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.