Taqleed

Q: I am a resident of UK, originally from Kurdistan, Iraq. I did not follow a particular mazhab/fiqh before as I was unaware of the four mazhabs. I met a Muslim friend in my university and we prayed zuhr salah together. He informed me about the sunnah salah before the fard salah of zuhr which I never knew was sunnah because I have only prayed the fard salah in the past without ever praying anything before or after. We prayed Asr together as well and he said to wait because he followed the Hanafi Mazhab and the time for Asr starts later according to the Hanafi Mazhab.

He explained to me the various sunnah salah associated with the daily five prayers and told me that people form Kurdistan follow the Shafi'i Mazhab. He gave me a breakdown of the daily salahs as mentioned below but he said this is according to the Hanafi Mazhab. He did not know if it was the same according to the Shafi'i Mazhab. Can you tell me the Salah breakdown below for the Shafi'i Mazhab? What will be different?

Fajr - 2 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Fard

Zuhr - 4 Sunnah Muakkadah, 4 Fard, 2 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Nafl

Asr - 4 Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah, 4 Fard

Maghrib - 3 Fard, 2 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Nafl

Esha - 4 Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah, 4 Fard, 2 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Nafl, 3 Witr Wajib, 2 Nafl

Jumuah - 4 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Fard, 4 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Sunnah Muakkadah, 2 Nafl

Q: We respect the four imams and we follow the teachings of Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and Quran. There are very mild differences in Namaz as said by the 4 imams with their proofs in hadith. Now I pray without rafadayn and my hands are not on my chest while standing. So does it mean that I'm praying the wrong way, because I see in Saudi Arabia they do rafadayn and have hands on chest. Please help me and make my salah better.

Q:

1. Is it necessary to follow anyone amongst 4 imams? Is there any ahadith? What was their ijthihad towards giving opinions on ahadith? Did four imams mention that "in case what they were doing is later found to be not correct then we should ignore them".

2. Why some Muslims believe that only two shahih hadiths are only hadith and rest hadith like Abu Dawood, ibn Maja, an nasai and tirmidhi are not correct hadith

3. Should every Muslim believe in all ahadith?

Q: There are four schools of thought in which there are many differences, like Imam Shaafee says that one should recite Surah Fatiha behind the Imam whereas Imam Abu Hanifa says no to this. There is almost a difference of timing for asr salah. Where should one go, what must one do, who should he follow and which opinion is correct? 

Q: What is the status of Taqleed (following one of the four Imaams of Fiqh) in Deen? Is it fardh, waajib, sunnah or mustahab?

Q: I think I have a serious problem in my Iman. I am not clear of certain things and it is really important to clear it. Whenever I face some hardship or insult or Allah punishing me, I feel like it is not my fault because everything is in His hands. The towfiq of making tawba or doing something correct, everything is controlled by Him.

Allah created Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) in such a way that Jibrail (alaihis salaam) came and cleansed his mubaarak heart. It is obvious that he is the best among us and this all Allah's plan.

An evil person's circumstances are like this that if he does any good deeds then it is from Allah. If Allah doesn't give hime the towfiq to do good then why will Allah punish him? To do good or bad is fate. Can you please explain this?

Q: Can you please present to me the proofs from the Qur’aan and Hadith that command us to follow one of the four Imaams of Fiqh?

I believe that we are all followers of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). Hence Allah Ta’ala obligated us to follow our beloved Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has said in his Mubaarak Hadith: “I leave behind two things; the Qur’aan and my Sunnah. As long as you hold firmly to these two; you will never go astray.”

From this Hadith, we understand that in solving our Deeni matters, we should directly refer to the Qur’aan and Hadith. Just as Ulama of the past made ijtihaad, why can't people who have knowledge of Arabic and have studied deen also make ijtihaad today and find solutions in modern day problems through referring directly to the Qur'aan and Hadith?

I do understand that if one is non-conversant in the Arabic language and thus unable to extract Shar‘i laws from the Qur’aan and Hadith, then he should refer to an Aalim of Deen. Why do people insist that every person should follow one of the four mazhabs of Fiqh?

Q: I normally follow the hanafi madhab however I wish to follow the shafii madhab with regards to wudu as i read that the shafii madhab does not consider wudu broken if blood or pus or other liquids flow from anywhere but the front and back passage. I am in a difficult situation due to blood/liquid flow and would like to follow the shafii ruling. Is this permissible? Also if I follow the shafii madhab with regards to wudu, must I follow it with regards to prayer and ghusl as well? If so, what are the obligations of prayer according to the shafii madhab?

Q: I've been taught to follow the Quran and Sunnah. Many hadiths I've read say to follow Quran and Ahlul Bayt. Are those weak hadith or are there hadiths that say follow the Sunnah as well?

Q: People in my area follow different imams and they claim that their act is correct and perfect than the other. They also say to me that you follow one imam only, reply to them that I will follow what is there is in Quran and sunnah (hadith-sahih + sanan+ other books-with references) irrespective of following one imam and making sects (as said in Quran" Vo ati ullaha Vo ati ur rasula") and they don't fluctuate w.r.t time as it is followed by prophet in times. Am I correct in this case of following Quran and hadith(also includes imams +sahaba+mufti+fuqaha) or following a single imam?