- Taqleed - The Following of the four imams

1) Taqleed, meaning to follow one of the four Imams of religion in orders of Islamic law (Shariah), i.e Imam Azam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Shafa'ee or Imam Ahmad bin Hambal and to pray Salaah as per their way or perform Siyam, Zakah etc. is necessary (Wajib) to follow one of them and is known as Taqleed Shakhshi.

2)These Imams have not made a rule on their own accord but have explained the meaning of the Qur'an and Hadith that a normal person or even a scholar could not understand. Therefore to follow these Imams is really following the Qur'an and Hadith.

3) Whoever follows one Imam, cannot follow another Imam, for example, to follow some rules as per one Imam and other rules as per another Imam as it is necessary to firmly follow one Imam. It is also not allowed to change from one Imam to another e.g. become a Hanafi from Shafa'ee etc, and so whoever you have followed upto today you must continue following him. It is also a joint agreement by all scholars that you cannot follow another Imam or a Mujtahid (religious director) except for one of these four.

Fiqh, literally understanding of details, expands on the basic principles set out in the Shariah. There are four schools of fiqh named after the exceptional scholars who derived the finer details, all of which conform with the Qur'an & Sunnah.

1. Hanafi : Named after Imam Abu Hanifa, 702-767 CE
2. Hanbali: Named after Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal 778-855 CE
3. Maliki: Named after Imam Malik ibn Anas, 717-801 CE
4. Shafi: Named after Imam Muhammad Idris al-Shafi, 769-820 CE

It should be noted that Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi' and Imam ibn Hanbal all embraced Sufism, tasawwuf. It has been narrated from Imam Malik that:

"'He who practices sufism without learning the shariah corrupts his faith, while he who learns Shariah without practicing sufism corrupts himself. Only he who combines the two reaches his goal."

FOLLOW ONE OF THE FOUR IMAMS

It is Wajib to follow ONE of the four Imams of fiqh. This is known as Taqleed Shakhshi. It should be noted that one cannot mix & match the various rules and should only follow the rulings of any one Imam.

The Islamic Law listed on this site has been taken from "Rules of Islamic Law" by Moulana Shams-ud-din Amjad. It is based upon the Hanafi school of Fiqh.