The ruling on a person adhering to a specific school of jurisprudence

A sister from Syria says in her letter: Is it obligatory for me to follow a specific school of jurisprudence? Do I choose this school myself, or should I be like my father or my mother, since my father is Hanbali and my mother is Hanafi? Which of them should we follow?
Answer: It is not obligatory to follow a specific school of jurisprudence, neither for a man nor for a woman. It is not obligatory to be Hanbali, or Maliki, or Shafi'i, or Hanafi, or Zahiri. No, it is not obligatory, neither for a man nor for a woman. However, everyone must seek the truth and examine the evidence from Islamic sacred law. If one does not know this, because he is a layperson, he asks the scholars in his country. He asks the well-known scholars, choosing those known for their righteousness, uprightness, and distance from evil. He asks them about matters of his religion, because Allah says: [Surat al-Nahl: 43]. So the ignorant person asks the scholars, and if the scholars inform him, he acts upon that. He should ask the scholar for the evidence, from the words of Allah, from the words of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so that he benefits more. And if one is a student of knowledge, or if the woman is a student of knowledge, she examines the evidence, reads the books of the scholars regarding the ritual prayer, the obligatory alms, fasting, transactions, the rulings on menstruation, the rulings on post-natal bleeding, and other matters. She reads the books, examines the evidence, and holds fast to what appears to her to be established on evidence, and acts upon it. This is what is obligatory for Muslims, both males and females. Yes.