Adhering to and following one of the four madh.habs

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Question: Is adhering to and following one of the [four] madh.habs (schools of Islaamic jurisprudence) considered to be extreme?

Response: No my brother; the layman and a beginner student of knowledge don’t have any choice but to adhere to and follow, [otherwise] what [do you expect] them to do? Should they just make ijtihaad? [No] he does not have the ability to make ijtihaad, [instead] he should adhere to and follow the people of knowledge. Allaah Jalla wa ‘Alaa says:

{Then ask the people of knowledge if you do not know}, soorah an-Nahl, aayah 43

…[and] why should he ask them? [He should ask them] in order to adhere to and follow what they say; Adhering to and following [them] is [done] out of need and necessity.

[Since] he who does not have the ability to extract legal Sharee’ah-based rulings from their [authentic] evidences, then he is required to adhere to and follow the [recognised] people of knowledge, [as Allaah Jalla wa ‘Alaa says]:

{Then ask the people of knowledge if you do not know}, soorah an-Nahl, aayah 43
Yes.

Translation originally published on 20 October, 2015.

Graduate of the Islaamic University of Madeenah, having completed the Arabic Language programme at the Institute of Arabic Language before progressing to the Faculty of Sharee'ah, from which he graduated in 2004. He currently resides in Birmingham, UK.

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