Following A Madhab

Do we have to follow a Madhab?

Al-Mulla Ali Qaari al-Hanafi said:

ومن المعلوم ان الله سبحانه ما كلف احدا ان يكون حنفيا او مالكيا او شافعيا او حنبليا بل كلفهم ان يعملوا بالكتاب والسنة ان كانوا علماء وان يقلدوا العلماء اذا كانوا جهلاء
“It is well-known that God does not require anyone to be Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’iee or Hanbali.
Rather, He requires everyone to adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah when they are learned, and to imitate scholars when they don’t know. “

[‘Sharh `Ayn al-`ilm wa zayn al-hilm’, 446].

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So, technically NO … but it’d be foolish not to, after these Madhabs were established.

It’s like refusing a TAP in your bathroom and getting water directly from the lake, or digging a well in your backyard!!

Why would you do that ???

The scholars of these Madhabs conveniently gathered all scattered evidences on thousands of issues, under clear chapter headings.
May God reward them for their efforts.
All classical scholars adhered to one of these Madhabs, except a handful.
These Madhabs are fine-tuned for 1000+ years, by MILLIONS of scholars, all over the world.
Their differences are due to their different understanding of evidences, it is not due to their ignorance of the evidences, as some ignorant people think.
But whichever Madhab we follow we should not be sectarian, thinking only we are right and everyone else is wrong.

PS: As for us laymen, the majority of scholars say that the laymen have no specific Madhab, we can ask any scholar from any Sunni madhab and follow him/her, if we don’t know.