What is the ruling on restricting fatwas to only the four schools of thought, and to whom were the sayings of the imams, "Do not imitate me, nor imitate Malik," directed?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The preponderant opinion is that it is permissible to follow any of the four Imams, as well as others whose (school of thought) has been preserved, codified, and whose conditions and other considerations are known.
Some scholars have held that it is not permissible to depart from the four madhahib, neither in practice, nor in (religious edict), nor in judicial ruling. Some of them even transmitted a consensus (ijma') on the obligation of following the four madhahib, but this consensus is not accepted as valid.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/47171
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 47171
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy