One Must Follow the Sunnah Even If It Contradicts His School of Fiqh

8-6-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalam o elaikum, I was following the hanafi fiqh until now. But i never like the idea of following a single person from minor issue to major issues (in my case Imam abu hanifa r.a) because i believe every person can make an error no matter how great of an imam he is. I recently started liking your approach more because as a mufti you compare different mazahibs and then give fatwa on the strongest opinion based on your understanding. The similar approach is being found by another cite which is islamqa. I like this because as a mufti one should not stick to the opinion of one imam because i think their is no legal binding. Am i wrong to take my deen from this site or islamqa because I love this approach as it seems more scholarly then to just stick to one particular maslak in every minor and major detail. Will I be punished for leaving my fiqh and instead asking you for strongest opinion according to you ? Because my ultimate goal and aim is to follow the Prophet SAW not a particular imam or any other person.
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Following a particular school of Fiqh is permissible and not obligatory. Therefore, it is permissible for a lay Muslim to follow one of the valid schools of Fiqh provided that whenever he learns that the Sunnah is other than the opinion of that school of Fiqh, he should follow the Sunnah and not the school of Fiqh. He is not required to follow a particular school of Fiqh on all issues, and it is rather allowable for a lay Muslim to ask any of the scholars of his school or other reliable scholars whom he trusts. Accordingly, there is nothing wrong with following other opinions outside your school of Fiqh and adopting the opinion of any other scholar whom you trust, whether on our website or elsewhere, and you bear no sin for that in any way.

Allah Knows best.

www.islamweb.net