The Ruling on Following One of the Four Schools of Jurisprudence
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Question:
A letter reached the program from one of the brothers, signed at the end with Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Abdullah. He asks and says: Is it permissible for me to say, for example: "I am on the Shafi'i school," or the Hanafi school, or otherwise?
Answer:
Yes, if he means that he follows the methodology of this school, and has studied in its books, and is among its people, and has come to follow this school, there is nothing wrong with him saying: "I am on the Shafi'i school," or the Hanbali, or the Maliki, or if he considers that the principles of this school and what it is based upon are closer to him and he prefers them; then there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it, either because he grew up being taught by its scholars and jurists, or because he saw that the principles of this school and what it is built upon are closer to the truth, so he followed it; then there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it. But it is not permissible for him to be fanatical and say: "The truth is with them and not with others," even if they contradict the evidence. No, he must not be fanatical; he has to follow the evidence.
So if the evidence is with others, it is obligatory for him to move from his school to the other school that has the evidence, and it is not permissible for him to be fanatical about his school in truth and falsehood. As for affiliating with it, if he follows its principles, or studied under scholars, and came to follow what they told him, there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it. But it is never permissible for him to be fanatical about it, and say: "It is absolutely on the truth," or to deny those who differ from him, or to leave the evidence for its sake. All of this is not permissible. Rather, there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it, but whenever the truth becomes apparent to him, whenever the truth becomes clear to him, he follows the truth and leaves the school. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
A letter reached the program from one of the brothers, signed at the end with Abu 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Abdullah. He asks and says: Is it permissible for me to say, for example: "I am on the Shafi'i school," or the Hanafi school, or otherwise?
Answer:
Yes, if he means that he follows the methodology of this school, and has studied in its books, and is among its people, and has come to follow this school, there is nothing wrong with him saying: "I am on the Shafi'i school," or the Hanbali, or the Maliki, or if he considers that the principles of this school and what it is based upon are closer to him and he prefers them; then there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it, either because he grew up being taught by its scholars and jurists, or because he saw that the principles of this school and what it is built upon are closer to the truth, so he followed it; then there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it. But it is not permissible for him to be fanatical and say: "The truth is with them and not with others," even if they contradict the evidence. No, he must not be fanatical; he has to follow the evidence.
So if the evidence is with others, it is obligatory for him to move from his school to the other school that has the evidence, and it is not permissible for him to be fanatical about his school in truth and falsehood. As for affiliating with it, if he follows its principles, or studied under scholars, and came to follow what they told him, there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it. But it is never permissible for him to be fanatical about it, and say: "It is absolutely on the truth," or to deny those who differ from him, or to leave the evidence for its sake. All of this is not permissible. Rather, there is nothing wrong with him affiliating with it, but whenever the truth becomes apparent to him, whenever the truth becomes clear to him, he follows the truth and leaves the school. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.