As-Salamu 'Alaykum
1 - The people are divide in 4 categoriesa) those who are complete mujtahid
b) those who are not complete mujtahid but they can weigh up the evidence and scholars’ opinion and thus choose the most correct one as they have the knowledge
c) those who can’t do the tarjeeh (outwieghing between evidences), it is ONLY PERMISSIBLE for them to follow the opinion of one of the mujtahid or trustworthy scholars, meaning a madhab. However, they must reject the opinion of their imam if it contradicts the Qur’an or Sunnah or they find out that opinion of their imam has not supporting evidence. This category mostly inculdes the students of knowledge
d) the laypeople who can’t do any of the above - they are obliged to ask the people of knowledge, as they Qur’an tells us, it could be your local Imam or Mufti or some Shaykh. People in this category are not allowed to read up books of ahadith or fiqh and come to some sort of conclusion.
2 - the layman has no madhab so we should stop talking about the issue of taqleed and wheter we should follow a schoar or not. We’re simply obliged to ask the trustworthy scholar/mufti for fatwa. If he happens to be a hanafi, for example, it doesn’t mean you’re also a hanafi.
3 - Taqleed - following a madhab is only permissible for people in the above described category # 3. Something doesn’t become obligatory unless it is prescirbed as such in the Qur’an or the Sunnah.
4 - The extreme positions are two: 1) Everyon SHOULD FOLLOW a madhab 2) Everyone SHOULD ABANDON a madhab. Both of them incorrect as it is taking the extreme path. The people of knowledge have relayed and convyed us, allhamdulillah.
Wallahu A’lam
brother, when did salafi become a madhab?