Hence, whoever adhered to whatever of the Sunnah that was proved authentic, even if it opposed some of the Imams’ sayings, he would not be conflicting with their madhhab, nor straying from their path; rather, such a person would be following all of them and would be grasping the most trustworthy hand-hold, which never breaks. However, this would not be the case with the one who abandoned any of the authentic Sunnah simply because it contradicted their views; nay, such a person would be being disobedient to them and opposing their above mentioned sayings, while Allaah says:
“But no, by Your Lord, they can have no (real) faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction.”

He also says: “Then let those beware who withstand the Messenger’s order, lest some trial befall them or a grievous penalty be inflicted on them.”

Prophet Muhammad sal-Allahu Alaihi wassallam said:

“ I leave behind me two things, the Quran and the Sunnah and if you follow these you will never go astray.”

cuts off everything which is invented after him i.e. Four Schools of thoughts, Prophet’s Birthday Celebration,
Taking anyone as your Imam other than Prophet Muhammad {saw}, and following our so called scholars.

In Conclusion, Islam means following the revelation of Allah and the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad (saw)
and if anyone follow anything apart as our prophet said, they will go astray and get misleaded.

Spare a Thought my Dear brothers and sisters
Do not follow anything Blindly !!!

Imaam Ahmad was the foremost among the Imams in collecting the Sunnah and sticking to it, so much so that he even “disliked that a book consisting of deductions and opinions be written.”43 Because of this he said:

1. “Do not follow my opinion; neither follow the opinion of Malik, nor Shaafi’i, nor Awzaa’i, nor Thawri, but take from where they took.”

In one narration: “Do not copy your Deen from anyone of these, but whatever comes from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his Companions, take it; next are their Successors, where a man has a choice.”
Once he said: “Following45 means that a man follows what comes from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his Companions; after the Successors, he has a choice.”

2. “The opinion of Awzaa’i, the opinion of Malik, the opinion of Abu Hanifah: all of it is opinion, and it is all equal in my eyes. However, the proof is in the narrations (from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his Companions).”

3. “Whoever rejects a statement of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is on the brink of destruction.

1. “The sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) reach, as well as escape from, every one of us. So whenever I voice my opinion, or formulate a principle, where something contrary to my view exists on the authority of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), then the correct view is what the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has said, and it is my view.”

2. “The Muslims are unanimously agreed that if a sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is made clear to someone, it is not permitted33 for him to leave it for the saying of anyone else.”

3. “If you find in my writings something different to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), then speak on the basis of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), and leave what I have said.”
In one narration: “… then follow it (the Sunnah), and do not look sideways at anyone else’s saying.”

4. “When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhhab.”

5. “You37 are more knowledgeable about Hadeeth than I, so when a hadeeth is saheeh, inform me of it, whether it is from Kufah, Basrah or Syria, so that I may take the view of the hadeeth, as long as it is saheeh.”

6. “In every issue where the people of narration find a report from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) to be saheeh which is contrary to what I have said, then I take my saying back, whether during my life or after my death.”

7. “If you see me saying something, and contrary to it is authentically-reported from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), then know that my intelligence has departed.”

8. “For everything I say, if there is something authentic from the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) contrary to my saying, then the hadeeth of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) comes first, so do not follow my opinion.”

9. “Every statement on the authority of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is also my view, even if you do not hear it from me.”

As for Imaam Malik ibn Anas, he said:

1. “Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes (sometimes) and I am correct (sometimes). Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, ignore it.”

2. “Everyone after the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) will have his sayings accepted and rejected – not so the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).”

3. Ibn Wahab said: “I heard Malik being asked about cleaning between the toes during ablution. He said, ‘The people do not have to do that.’ I did not approach him until the crowd had lessened, when I said to him, ‘We know of a sunnah about that.’ He said, ‘What is that ?’ I said, ‘Laith ibn Sa’d, Ibn Lahee’ah and ‘Amr ibn al-Harith narrated to us from Yazeed ibn ‘Amr al-Ma’aafiri from Abu ‘Abdur-Rahman al-Hubuli from Mustawrid ibn Shaddad al-Qurashi who said, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) rubbing between his toes with his little finger.’ He said, ‘This hadeeth is sound; I had not heard of it at all until now.’ Afterwards, I heard him being asked about the same thing, on which he ordered cleaning between the toes.”

1) Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah)

The first of them is Imam Abu Hanifah, whose companions have narrated from him various sayings and diverse warnings, all of them leading to one thing: the obligation to accept the Hadeeth, and to give up following the opinions of the imams which contradict it:

1. “When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhhab.”

2. “It is not permitted21 for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got them.”

In one narration, “It is prohibited for someone who does not know my evidence to give verdicts on the basis of my words.”
Another narration adds, “… for we are mortals: we say one thing one day, and take it back the next day.”

In another narration, “Woe to you, O Ya’qub! Do not write down everything you hear from me, for it happens that I hold one opinion today and reject it tomorrow, or hold one opinion tomorrow and reject it the day after tomorrow.”

3. “When I say something contradicting the Book of Allaah the Exalted or what is narrated from the Messenger (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), then ignore my saying.”

(Surah Taubah, ayah 31)

In this ayah Allah declares that the Jews and Christians had taken the following people as their lords (Rab) besides Allah:

1. Their rabbis and monks.

2. Messiah son of Maryam (Alaihi salaam)

Their worship of Messiah is well known, but how did they take their rabbis and monks as their lords? This is explained in the following hadith:

Prophet Muhammad (SallAllah-u-Alaihi-wa-Sallam) said: They didn’t worship them but (the worship was in the sense) whatever they made halaal for them, they considered it halaal, whatever they made haraam for them, they considered it haraam.

(Tirmidhi Book of Tafseer-Surah Taubah, declared Hasan by Imam Tirmidhi, Tauheed ul Muslimeen pg. 272)

Prophet Muhammad (SallAllah-u-Alaihi-wa-Sallam) explained that they have taken them as your lords by following their religious rulings blindly and disregarded the true shariah.

From the above it is evident that to accept anyone’s religious verdicts blindly is a form of shirk.

After reading this hadith, it is obligatory for us to ask proof from Quran and Sunnah for any religious verdict and take the time to examine it in order to save ourselves from the position described in the previously quoted hadith, we simply can’t take any scholars or Imam’s words as evidence in matters of shariah.

From the above ayah and hadith it is evident that there is no room for taqleed Shaksi in Islam. As taqleed shaksi invites towards following any particular Imam blindly without inquiring about the proof.