Should A Muslim Follow A Particular Madhhab?

This brief reading is interesting and worth pondering over. The author debates the practice of adhering to a particular madhhab, emphasizing the importance of following the Quran and Sunnah directly as opposed to restricting oneself to a particular set of interpretations. While the noble Imams and classical scholars had a great regard for Hadith, their followers in later centuries began preferring the opinions of their respective madhhabs over established Hadith. The author explains how the concept of madhhabs has been exaggerated and has led to sectarianism within Islam. He frequently quotes the Quran, Sunnah and esteemed classical scholars, including the four Imams themselves, to prove his point.

An Excellent read for beginners student of knowledge.

Biased approach.

Please write neutrally so that the readers don't have to run factual checks on the assertions of the author.

Deeply worried about this state of the so-called contemporary brains of the Muslim ummah.

I advise the readers to also read the book entitled "the legal status of following a madhab by Mufti Taqi Usmani" to know the other side of the story and then decide for yourself that what is right and what is wrong. You may download the book for free from the following link:

https://central-mosque.com/index.php/taqleed/the-legal-status-of-following-a-madhab.html

You may also but it online on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Legal-Status-Following-Madhab/dp/B005RT29XU

The post ends here. But for those interested for more information, I'm pasting an excerpt from the referenced book:

"To reiterate the purpose of this book is not to create an atmosphere of disputation

but to clarify the position taken by the majority of Muslims for the best part of thirteen

centuries on Taqleed - which is to follow the Imams of Ijtihad. By avoiding the extremes,

the goal is to show the balanced position which the majority of the scholars from the Ahle

Sunnah wal Jama'ah has adopted. Therefore, this tract should be read with a view to

study the scholastic evidence of the issue, rather than to dispute upon the issue void of

knowledge. There is a great deal of propaganda against Taqleed. I hope that this treatise

helps to make clear the issue of Taqleed to the doubtful."

The author of this book has taken a very delicate subject matter and dealt with it as a learned scholar should. He has clarified and explained that there is no injunction upon any Muslim to strictly follow one school of thought. None of the Imams asked people to blindly follow their words, rather they said if you find a stronger hadith then leave my opinion and follow that which is closest to Quran and Sunnah. They did their best and were contemporaries who had great love and respect for each other. As a Muslim, we need to realize that the Quran and Sunnah are primary sources of guidance and everything else is secondary. We must give priority to the Saheeh hadith over weaker narrations irrespective of which Imam said it. We must respect all the Imams and Scholars as they spent their lives collecting hadith in order to make our lives easier. However we have taken their names to create hatred and enmity. This needs to change.

At first i felt the language of the book was a little too harsh. However, reading it led me to discover that the issue of factions in Islam is such a serious issue that it requires harshness.

It is a book only the true tolerant ones can read and understand, it is an eye opener. Like a breath of fresh air.