Can A Salafī Study One of The Four Maḏhāhib by Shaykh Dr. ʿAbdullah ibn Ṣulfīq aẓ-Ẓafīrī

Pivotal Quote

“What he takes from those books—from whichever of the four maḏhāhib he may be studying from—is his ʿibādah, between himself and his Lord. It is that which he takes from the book, which coincides and agrees with the Sunnah of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and what coincides with the dalīl (the evidence from The Qurʾān and The Sunnah). Not that he blindly follows any maḏhhab, that in studying one maḏhhab he rejects anything else from any other maḏhhab.”

Question:

Is it allowed for the Salafī to study the Shāfi‘ī maḏhhab (school of thought), or any of the other four maḏhāhib (schools of thought)?

Answer:

The ʿUlamāʾ have taught us that in order to study Fiqh (Islāmic Jurispudence), one has to study according to one of the books that has been written about Fiqh; and these have traditionally been written according to a particular maḏhhab (school of thought). A person will not become proficient in Fiqh until he studies a basic matn (text) of Fiqh and then works his way up to the more complicated books of Fiqh. And a person may study gradually according to the books that are written about Fiqh, according to any of the four maḏhāhib. So, a person may start with a basic book in Shāfiʿī fiqh and work his way up, or may start with a basic book of Ḥanafī fiqh and work his way up, or Mālikī fiqh and work his way up, or Ḥanbalī fiqh and work his way up.

The appropriate thing is that the student of knowledge follows the proper methodology of studying the science and not that a person studies any particular maḏhhab. In doing so, however, the student of knowledge must keep in mind that what he considers is ʿibādah (worship). What he takes from those books—from whichever of the four maḏhāhib he may be studying from—is his ʿibādah, between himself and his Lord. It is that which he takes from the book, which coincides and agrees with the Sunnah of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and what coincides with the dalīl (the evidence from The Qurʾān and The Sunnah). Not that he blindly follows any maḏhhab, that in studying one maḏhhab he rejects anything else from any other maḏhhab.

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