Following a School of Jurisprudence and Independent Legal Reasoning
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Question: I read in one of the religious books, in the chapter on following a school of jurisprudence, and I deduced from my reading that a scholar qualified to derive rulings is not permitted to follow one of the four famous schools of jurisprudence. So, praise be to Allah, I engage in independent legal reasoning in matters of Islamic jurisprudence in a way that does not conflict with the Book and the Sunnah. Does what I read mean that I am not obligated to follow one of those four famous schools of jurisprudence, or not?
Answer: The scholar qualified to derive rulings about whom you read in some books is one who has reached the level of independent legal reasoning because the conditions for independent legal reasoning are present in him, such as the four Imams and their like among the scholars of this Ummah.
And the scholar qualified to derive rulings has conditions that must be present in him, by which he acquires the qualification for deriving rulings,
and for issuing scholarly legal rulings. That is, he must be knowledgeable of the Book of Allah, knowledgeable of the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), knowledgeable of the statements of the Salaf from the Companions and the Tabi'un, having a general grasp of them, and he must be aware of the principles of deriving rulings, such as knowing the abrogating and the abrogated, the general and the specific, the absolute and the qualified, the ambiguous and the clear, and other principles of deriving rulings. In addition, he must be knowledgeable of the rules of the Arabic language, which is the language of the Shari'ah from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and of the Arabs' styles and modes of speech.
As for a person being merely a reader who is good at reading a book, as you mentioned, it is forbidden for him to engage in independent legal reasoning, because he will fall into error and cause others to fall into error. The layperson and the beginner student of knowledge, these people follow those they trust in their religion and their knowledge, from among the scholars, and they adopt their opinions as long as it does not become clear to them that their statement contradicts the evidence. If they can distinguish between the stronger position and the weaker position, they adopt what is established by the evidence from the statements of the scholars. And Allah knows best.
Answer: The scholar qualified to derive rulings about whom you read in some books is one who has reached the level of independent legal reasoning because the conditions for independent legal reasoning are present in him, such as the four Imams and their like among the scholars of this Ummah.
And the scholar qualified to derive rulings has conditions that must be present in him, by which he acquires the qualification for deriving rulings,
and for issuing scholarly legal rulings. That is, he must be knowledgeable of the Book of Allah, knowledgeable of the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), knowledgeable of the statements of the Salaf from the Companions and the Tabi'un, having a general grasp of them, and he must be aware of the principles of deriving rulings, such as knowing the abrogating and the abrogated, the general and the specific, the absolute and the qualified, the ambiguous and the clear, and other principles of deriving rulings. In addition, he must be knowledgeable of the rules of the Arabic language, which is the language of the Shari'ah from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and of the Arabs' styles and modes of speech.
As for a person being merely a reader who is good at reading a book, as you mentioned, it is forbidden for him to engage in independent legal reasoning, because he will fall into error and cause others to fall into error. The layperson and the beginner student of knowledge, these people follow those they trust in their religion and their knowledge, from among the scholars, and they adopt their opinions as long as it does not become clear to them that their statement contradicts the evidence. If they can distinguish between the stronger position and the weaker position, they adopt what is established by the evidence from the statements of the scholars. And Allah knows best.