Blind Following

There are many things which by nature are neither good nor bad but their status depends upon the situation or use e.g friendship
, if it is of a good person, it will be good and if of a bad person then undoubtedly it will be considered bad. Meat of a halal animal slaughtered in the right manner will be halaal but that of a haraam animal or even a halal animal but slaughtered unlawfully will be haram. 

Similarly "Taqleed" or following someone (blindly as some people would say ) if of ignorant and astray people will undoubtedly be wrong and lead people astray but "Taqleed " of learned and pious people especially those whose knowledge and piety has been universally accepted is not only permissible but indispensable. 

Many people are so obsessed with the term "Blind following" that they probably don't even understand what the term means. There are many people in the world who are blind but they survive and manage...by relying upon and placing their trust in people who are blessed with sight and can see. Subhaanallah, modern society has enabled blind people to survive being led by animals ..dogs who are trained to guide the blind and they manage to live a reasonable life. But many muslims think that placing trust in scholars of this Ummah whose knowledge and piety has been acknowledged for over thirteen centuries is "SHIRK". 

Being blind and holding the hand of someone who can see in order to cross the road is nowhere as bad as someone who is blind but yet wants to cross the road himself. We may be blind in many matters of deen but people like Imam Abu Hanifah r.h , Imam Malik , Imam Shaf'iee and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal r.h certainly were not blind and had a very good insight into matters of deen.

By Sheikh Mumtaz Ul Haq Answer for some questions;

Answer 1 

1. The prophet sallallaho alaihe wasallam had 9 wives when he left this world.  

2. He used to say "I am Rasoolullah". 

3. When he would rise from sleep many a times he would not make wudhu and begin to pray. These are only a few examples of which how many would you follow blindly because the prophet sallallaho alaihe wasallam did these so you will do them as well. 

 Answer 2 

Alhamdolillah we have the madhhab of Imam Abu Hanifah , imam Malik ,Imam Shaf'iee and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal rahimahumullah but no one in 14 centuries has as yet compiled aa separate "Madhhab of Rasoolullah." All these madhaahibs ARE the madhhabs of Rasoolullah. It needed someone in the 15th century to make a claim of Madhhab of Rasoolullah. 

Answer 3 

It amazes me as to how people say ,"I follow the stronger opinion" . Those people who make this statement normally and in by far the majority of cases haven't got a clue to what the various arguments are after which the mujtahids have come to their conclusion regarding any issue. If it was so simple to make ijtehad then every "Tom , Di...and Harry would have been a Mujtahid" and then there would not have been only four but billions of Madhabs since everybody can follow the "stronger opinion" . Also isn't it extraordinary that people in the 15th century can understand and follow the stronger opinion but the mujtahids and in many cases even the sahaabah could not understand that. 

Answer 4 

Just because his students disagreed with the imam on any issue doesn't necessarily mean that the imam is wrong . Even sahaabah had difference of opinion with one another in many issues. When imams said ," if you find saheeh hadeeth which contradicts what I have said , throw my saying on the wall and follow saheeh hadeeth," Does anybody in their right frame of iman and mind expect them to say anything else. But they fail to understand that the imam probably had a hadeeth which he considered to be stronger. For example . In Bukhari Rafa yadain is reported but imam Abu Hanifa r.h was aware of this hadeeth but regarded the hadeeth and practice of Abdullah ibn Masoud r.a to be stronger and more authentic.