I proudly punded my chest for many years claiming I was a salafi, in Aqeedah, In Fiqh, In the understanding of Tawheed…. in everything you can imagine nd mention. Then I started studying Islam, and many times found my self perplexed by many of the opinions I held, realizing that those very opinions were based upon the ijtihad of a scholar.

No matter how much I tried to shake taqleed away and remain upon Al-Itiba’a, I found my self in uncharted territory. This write up below will, in sha Allah, further the foundations put in place by the madhahib and their respected jurrists, over the centuries. Sometimes, we need to learn more to understand how much we actually are ignorant off.

No matter what level a student’s intelligence and determination reaches, he cannot be a Mujtahid in every legal issue, comprehending the study of their evidences from the standpoint of Prophetic tradition, linguistics, legal principles and jurisprudence. So it is inevitable that he will need to follow a scholar [Taqlīd] in a majority of legal issues. Adhering to a school will keep him occupied and is preferable for him in the face of evidence of equal weight and the absence of one view being prominent over another- so he follows his ‘Imām.

Since all the contemporaries who attack adherence to a juristic school and following [an ‘Imām] end up following ‘Ibn Bāz, ‘Ibn Uthaymīn, al-‘Albānī or others like them, may Allah have mercy on them, they run away from following one of the four A’immah and follow someone less than them [in knowledge]. … More DO WE NEED TO FOLLOW A MADHHAB – WHICH SCHOLAR – IS IT TAQLEED IF EVERYONE IS DOING IT?