The Four Madhhabs: United in Seeking the Truth, Not Divided by Blind Following
- Muiz As-Siddeeqi
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Question to Shaykh Ibn Baaz:
What is the difference between the four madhhabs (schools of thought)? And is one madhhab better than the other?
Shaykh Ibn Baaz Answer:
The four madhhabs — the Shāfiʿī, Mālikī, Ḥanbalī, and Ḥanafī madhhabs — all seek the truth.
All of them — may Allah be pleased with them and have mercy on them — followed the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
But what is blameworthy is the fanaticism (taʿaṣṣub) shown by some of their followers, not by the imams themselves.
There is also the Ẓāhirī madhhab — which is a fifth well-known madhhab — and there were other madhhabs too in the past:
the Jarīrī madhhab (followers of Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī), the Laythī madhhab (followers of al-Layth ibn Saʿd), the Thawrī madhhab (followers of Sufyān al-Thawrī), and the Rāhawayhī madhhab (followers of Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh).
But those madhhabs eventually disappeared.
What truly matters is following the truth.
These four madhhabs, the Ẓāhirī madhhab, and even the madhhabs before them that became extinct — all of them aimed to follow the truth.
They might have differed on one issue, two issues, or three.
A scholar might have a particular view on a matter, and because of that, he would have followers who become known for that opinion.
That is how a madhhab becomes famous — due to a scholar’s unique position in one, two, three, or even more issues, where he differed from another scholar because he was convinced by certain evidences that maybe were hidden to someone else, and clear to him.
But most of these differences are on secondary (fiqh) issues, not the foundational principles of the religion (uṣūl).
The blameworthy thing is when a person becomes fanatically attached to falsehood, refusing to accept the truth even when it becomes clear — this is what is blameworthy from among their followers.
Otherwise, the madhhabs themselves are well-known, respected, and all of them intended to follow the truth, to follow the Qur'an and Sunnah, and to hold firm to what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ brought.
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