Thus, whoever does this is ignorant and misguided; indeed, he may even be a disbeliever. For if he believes that people are obliged to follow one particular imam rather than another, he must be called upon to repent; if he does not repent, he is to be put to death.
The most that can be said is that a layperson may, should, or must follow an imam, without prescribing any particular individual—not Zayd or ʿAmr. But to say that ordinary people must follow this or that particular imam is something no Muslim would say. Whoever is loyal to the imams and loves them, following each of them in whatever appears to him to accord with the Sunnah, is doing well. Indeed, his position is better than that of others, and such a person should not be disparaged as “wavering.”
Rather, the blameworthy waverer is someone who is neither with the believers nor with the disbelievers, but presents one face to the believers and another to the disbelievers. Allah Most High said concerning the hypocrites:
“The hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He deceives them. When they stand up for prayer, they stand lazily, showing off before people,”
up to His words:
“And whoever Allah leaves astray—you will never find for him a way.”
The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:
“The hypocrite is like a sheep wandering between two flocks, going to one at times and to the other at times.”
It is these wavering hypocrites whom Allah and His Messenger condemned, and He said concerning