Prohibition of blind‐following according to the imams:

Hence the statements of the mujtahid imams came in succession, emphatically forbidding taqlid—whether of themselves or of anyone else:

1 – Abū Ḥanīfa, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “It is not lawful for anyone to act on our view unless he knows the source from which we derived it.” In another wording: “It is forbidden for whoever does not know my proof to issue fatwas based on my words, for we are human: today we state a view and tomorrow we retract it.”

2 – Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “I am only a human being; I may be right and I may be wrong. Examine what I say: whatever agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, take it, and whatever does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, leave it.”

3 – Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “The Muslims are unanimously agreed that once the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) becomes clear to a person, it is unlawful for him to leave it for anyone’s statement.” He also said, “In every matter where an authentic report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reaches the scholars of transmission that contradicts what I have said, I renounce it—during my life and after my death.” And he said, “Anything I have said, and there is authentic evidence from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) contrary to it, then the Prophet’s hadith takes precedence, so do not imitate me.”