Advice of Scholars - THE MADHHAB OF SAHÂBAT AL-KIRÂM

All the Sahâbat al-kirâm (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în) were rightfully the “stars” for guidance. Any of them would have sufficed to guide the entire world to the right path. They were mujtahids, each belonging in his own madhhab. Most of their madhhabs were alike. Yet, since their madhhabs were not written into books, it is not possible for us to follow them. The madhhabs of the four imâms, that is, what they communicated about the things to be believed and about the things to be done, were gathered together and explained by their disciples. They were committed to books. Today every Muslim must belong to the madhhab of one of the abovementioned four imâms and live up to and perform ’ibâdât in accordance with that madhhab. A person who does not want to follow one of these four madhhabs does not belong to Ahl as-Sunna.