What is the ruling on following one of the four schools of jurisprudence, O honorable Shaykh?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on following one of the four schools of jurisprudence, O honorable Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. People are divided into categories regarding their adherence to schools of jurisprudence. Some people affiliate with a specific school because they believe it is the closest to the truth, but when the truth becomes clear to them, they follow it and leave what they were following. There is no blame on them for this. Great scholars have done this, such as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. I mean, Ibn Taymiyyah was among the followers of Imam Ahmad and is considered one of the Hanbalis, yet according to what we have seen in his books and fatwas, when the evidence became clear to him, he followed it and did not care if he departed from what the followers of the school were upon. There are many like him. There is nothing wrong with this, because affiliation with a school and studying its rules and principles helps a person understand the Book and the Sunnah and keeps his thoughts organized.
Some people are fanatical about a specific school; they take its dispensations and default rulings without looking at the evidence. Their evidence is the books of its followers. When evidence appears that contradicts what is in the books of its followers, they resort to a weak figurative interpretation in order to align with the school of its followers. This is blameworthy and has a resemblance to those about whom Allah said:[An-Nisa 4:60-61] Although they are not in that position, they have a resemblance to them, and they are in great danger, because on the Day of Resurrection it will be said to them: What did you answer the messengers? It will not be said: What did you answer such and such a book, or such and such a book, or such and such an Imam.
The third category is the one who has no knowledge and is a pure layperson, so he follows a specific school because he is unable to know the truth by himself and is not at all among those qualified for independent legal reasoning. This falls under the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[An-Nahl 16:43] A question branches off from this one: If a layperson asks a scholar and he issues a ruling for him, and then he hears another scholar saying something contrary to that ruling, whose words should he follow? The layperson is confused: should he take the words of this one or that one? He does not have the ability to prefer one opinion over the other based on evidence. The answer to this question is: Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. Look at which of the opinions your heart inclines toward and follow it. If your heart inclines toward the words of such and such a person because he is more knowledgeable and more scrupulous, follow him. If the two men are equal in your estimation, it is said: take the one who is stricter and more severe, as a precaution. It is also said: take the one who is easier and simpler, because that is closer to the principle of the Shari'ah and the presumption of original permissibility. It is also said: he is given the choice. The closest view is that he takes the easier one, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:185] The evidence is balanced, because the muftis, or because the two muftis, are both on equal footing in the view of the questioner. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you. From the questions of this questioner from Algeria, he says.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. People are divided into categories regarding their adherence to schools of jurisprudence. Some people affiliate with a specific school because they believe it is the closest to the truth, but when the truth becomes clear to them, they follow it and leave what they were following. There is no blame on them for this. Great scholars have done this, such as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. I mean, Ibn Taymiyyah was among the followers of Imam Ahmad and is considered one of the Hanbalis, yet according to what we have seen in his books and fatwas, when the evidence became clear to him, he followed it and did not care if he departed from what the followers of the school were upon. There are many like him. There is nothing wrong with this, because affiliation with a school and studying its rules and principles helps a person understand the Book and the Sunnah and keeps his thoughts organized.
Some people are fanatical about a specific school; they take its dispensations and default rulings without looking at the evidence. Their evidence is the books of its followers. When evidence appears that contradicts what is in the books of its followers, they resort to a weak figurative interpretation in order to align with the school of its followers. This is blameworthy and has a resemblance to those about whom Allah said:
(60) Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taghut, while they were commanded to reject it; and Satan wishes to lead them far astray. (61) And when it is said to them, "Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Messenger," you see the hypocrites turning away from you in aversion.
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ ءامَنُوا بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ وَيُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُمْ ضَلالًا بَعِيدًا * وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْكَ صُدُودًاThe third category is the one who has no knowledge and is a pure layperson, so he follows a specific school because he is unable to know the truth by himself and is not at all among those qualified for independent legal reasoning. This falls under the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَAllah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship
يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَThe questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you. From the questions of this questioner from Algeria, he says.