Re: Dr. Zakir Naik
Yes technically you are right … the reason why the 4 madhabs are quoted is because of their overall agreement on the 'aqeedah whereas they differ in fiqh matters. Ash’ari and Maturidi ‘aqeedahs have been agreed as what are within Ahl-us-Sunnah-wal-Jama’ … Each of the 4 madhabs recognise the other 3 madhabs as being part of the fold. In other words they support each other. If a fifth or a sixth comes in then not only do each of the existing 4 need to recognise the fifth but the fifth needs to recognise the other 4.
Also these 4 madhabs have an unbroken chain of ijaza and tutelage back to the salaf … if a fifth or sixth claimant for recognition comes in then they would have to demonstrate a similar unbroken chain. So technically there can be any number of madhabs, but the reason why there are 4 is because they fulfil those requirements and the further away in time we move from the source or early generation the less likely there is of another madhab to emerge from outside these existing four, of course it is possible a madhab can occur from within them - and if that happens then w can be sure they will not be too far from their parent madhabs. I hope that makes sense.