Question:
Is it permissible for the beginner student of knowledge that he blind follows a certain school of thought from the (existing) schools of thought if he is unable to understand the derivation (of affairs) from its evidences? May Allah reward you well.
Answer:
There is no problem in it if he trusts a person for his deen from the people of knowledge and the people of virtue that he follows his fatwa along with the evidence and that would result in him following the evidence.
No issue with that, if he is neither from those who can derive and nor is he is a student of knowledge capable of looking into the matter on his own, and he relies upon so and so scholar from the people of knowledge
Allah says :
فَسۡـَٔلُوٓاْ أَهۡلَ ٱلذِّكۡرِ إِن كُنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
So ask of those who know the Scripture, if you know not.
(An Nahl 43)
i.e ask them regarding the manifest evidences. So, if he gives you a fatwa according to the evidence and you trust upon this scholar and you take from his speech and you even heard other than it but you cannot comprehend it – so you take from this scholar who has a place of trust and reliability with you then there is no problem, if Allah wills.
As for you linking yourself to a particular school of thought I do not advise you with it that you become a Ḥanbalī or other than it but if you find tranquility in some of their evidences and their way like the Ḥanbalis or the Shāfʿi while you don’t link yourself to them and while you are in a state that you do not comprehend the evidences and the people of your country are upon this school of thought like the Ḥanbali school of thought or the Shāfʿi school of thought and become a Ḥanbali following the people due to your unability to comprehend the evidence (then in your case you’re not sinful).
Otherwise, adopting a particular school of thought, as you know from the speech of our scholars, that it is an innovation. The adoption of a particular school of thought was not present during the era of the companions nor during the era of the Tabi’een and this sort of adoption only came afterwards.
So if you take from the Ḥanbali school of thought considering that you are from the same country and you are not capable of comprehending the matters then there is no blame upon you and this is the condition of many.
You will find that the Shāfʿi does not know what Shāfʿi is but they follow the speech of the laymen saying “Shāfʿi said” and may be here it is (actually) “The Sufi said” but they uphold the speech saying that this is the speech of Shāfʿi and all of that is upon Shāfʿi school of thought while infact he is a Sufi – a person (following the book) Safeenatun Najah (Ship of salvation) or (it is correct to say) Safeenatul Garq (Ship of getting drowned) (all this by saying) “Shāfʿi said”.
Answered by: Our Shaykh Abū Bilāl – may Allāh preserve him.
Source:
t.me/abubilalhami/5625
Answered on: 24rd Rabī AlThāni 1442 (9th December 2020).
Translated by: Abū Muḥammad
Neẓamuddīn Al Hindi.