Taqleed & Following one particular Madhab

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

He can even switch from one mujtahid from one madhab to another.

This is incorrect. a layman is not allowed to switch from one mujtahid to another. As a matter of fact, the reason why madhahib were codified is to stop people from picking and choosing and fatwa shopping.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Shaykh Zubair Alizai explains following a madhab in usool versus blind following a person.

[Khorosani]

Abū 'l-Qāsim ʿAbd 'l-Karīm bin Muḥammad al-Rāfiʿī (died 623 A.H.) said (Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, 12/427, Dār 'l-Kutub al-Jahliyyah Beirut, 1st edition, 1417 A.H.): If he follows a Mujtahid in some issues, and another in other issues, and the Mujtahids are equal according to him [as per the opinion of Ibn 'l-Ṣabbāgh] – or let us say he would have a choice – then what the practice of the ancients necessitates is that of [its] permissibility, as they used to ask [one scholar] at times [and another at other times] without any condemnation.

than what does this mean?

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Abū 'l-Qāsim ʿAbd 'l-Karīm bin Muḥammad al-Rāfiʿī (died 623 A.H.) said (Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, 12/427, Dār 'l-Kutub al-Jahliyyah Beirut, 1st edition, 1417 A.H.): If he follows a Mujtahid in some issues, and another in other issues, and the Mujtahids are equal according to him [as per the opinion of Ibn 'l-Ṣabbāgh] – or let us say he would have a choice – then what the practice of the ancients necessitates is that of [its] permissibility, as they used to ask [one scholar] at times [and another at other times] without any condemnation.

than what does this mean?

It means that you need to ask a scholar for tafseel of this qawl rather than interpreting it by yourself.

[Khorosani]

It means that you need to ask a scholar for tafseel of this qawl rather than interpreting it by yourself.

but bro i'm not interpreting it, this is the meaning that HH gave us. I'm a muqallid.

Muḥammad bin ʿAbd 'l-Raḥmān ʿĪd al-Maḥallāwī (died post-1340 A.H.) said (Tasḣīl 'l-Wuṣūl Ilā ʿIlm 'l-Uṣūl, pg. 326, Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥ It is not obligatory on the layman to adhere to a particular school in every situation. If he adheres to a specific school, like the school of Abū Ḥanīfah (may Allāh have mercy on him), it would not be obligatory on him to continue with it; rather it would be permissible for him to switch to the school of another [Imām]. This is the truth, because the difference of scholars is a mercy [as proven] by text; if we made it necessary on the layman to act on [only] one school out of the schools, this would be a cruelty. When a layman – who has no degree of analysis or evidentiary capability, and has not read up on the subsidiaries of a school – says “I am a Ḥanafī”, he would not become as such by mere claim.


not fard on any of us to stick to one madhab, therefore if there is a need we can ask another alim from another school on an issue. I don't know the implications of that though.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

HH has some conflicting views. You should ask a scholar. Sometimes HH's choice of wording causes more confusion. Consult a scholar. Preferably a proper hanbali scholar from Najd.

[Khorosani]

HH has some conflicting views. You should ask a scholar. Sometimes HH's choice of wording causes more confusion. Consult a scholar. Preferably a proper hanbali scholar from Najd.

you got a point there, but i'm not a Hanbali, i'm Hanafi. I have two teachers though a deobandi hanafi and a Hanbali ex hanafi.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

you got a point there, but i'm not a Hanbali, i'm Hanafi. I have two teachers though a deobandi hanafi and a Hanbali ex hanafi.

Bottom line is, one cannot be held accountable on the day of judgement for changing his madhab. But one picking and choosing rulings most suitable to his desires is.

[Khorosani]

Bottom line is, one cannot be held accountable on the day of judgement for changing his madhab. But one picking and choosing rulings most suitable to his desires is.

Yes, that makes sense but i'd suspect that if you truly find that one opinion, even if its from another madhab is more closer to the haq or is the haq than another opinion than no one is to blame for that.

For instance i follow the hanafi madhab in almost everything but i prefer to recite Fatiha in my salah at times behind the imam in silent prayers.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

Yes, that makes sense but i'd suspect that if you truly find that one opinion, even if its from another madhab is more closer to the haq or is the haq than another opinion than no one is to blame for that.

For instance i follow the hanafi madhab in almost everything but i prefer to recite Fatiha in my salah at times behind the imam in silent prayers.

Are you qualified to see which one is closer to haqq? If you wise enough to make that destinction then you are no longer a muqallid. Only a mujtahid can see what is and what isnt closer to haqq.

[Khorosani]

Are you qualified to see which one is closer to haqq? If you wise enough to make that destinction then you are no longer a muqallid. Only a mujtahid can see what is and what isnt closer to haqq.

okay, your right on that my example isn't a good one. But lets say in an example where a muqallid asks a shaffi scholar instead of a hanafi one and he gets a verdict. Then that wouldn't be a harm right?

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

okay, your right on that my example isn't a good one. But lets say in an example where a muqallid asks a shaffi scholar instead of a hanafi one and he gets a verdict. Then that wouldn't be a harm right?

If you are where there are scholars from other schools you can ask anyone of them. Example is living in europe. There are many non hanafis. We cant refuse to consult a maliki imam in our masjid. We must consult him if we have queries.