I was having a discussion with my brother about making Talqeed of one Imam only. He agrees to the idea of making Talqeed of only one Imam in general, but he said that if he had a choice between one of the following: (1)A ruling passed by the Imam (which would, of course, be based on Shariah evidence) (2)A ruling passed by a person with Islamic knowledge (based on stronger Shariah evidence). Then he would choose the second option, thereby not following the Iman in that specific case. He said that one Imam (if I remember correctly, then Imam Shaafi) had stated that if you find me saying something which opposes what Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, then throw my opinion against the wall, and choose what Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said. Is my cousin right in the way that he thinks?
1. Taqleed of one Imaam only is absolutely necessary. Each one of the Imaams were masters and experts in all the different fields including Fiqh, Hadith, Tafsir, language, etc. So, if anyone of them passed a ruling on any issue, it was most certainly substantiated by proofs from Hadith, Qur’aan, etc. So, a normal layperson who is not very knowledgeable about the rulings of Islam places his trust in the Imaam that he follows and leaves out practice on the rulings issued by other Imaams because if he follows all four Imaams at a time, this will lead to following of one’s desires and confusion.
2. This saying which you mentioned was said by all four Imaams and is correct. However, there are 2 conditions sytated by the jurists for this. For any jurist to pass a law contrary to any Imaam, based on a Sahih Hadith, he has to have the capability to do that.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai