If a person would like to study fiqh, does he have to chose a madhhab? Is there anyway to study Usool ul fiqh without following a particular schools principles?
He should chose a madhab to study, not due to usul, but due to fiqh itself. Usul, you can pretty much study from any madhabs.
People say that there are "valid" opinions, such as the ones stated above. How do we know what is a valid opinion and does it not have to have authentic evidence behind it?
There are some opinions that not only the scholars criticised, but actually fiercely attacked, such as those who allow the drinking of wine, riba al-fadhl, music, etc. These are the opinions a person should stay away from. These are called the genuine errors, or slips of the scholars.
Im right in thinking arent I , that if a jahil, non scholar comes to you nad says 'here this hadeeth is sahih follow it' that he should not be followed, after all, most of these people dont even know arabic and have never checked one hadeeth isnad right?
Depends. If the issue is of difference of opinion, and you do not know which of the opinion is or is not right, then yes, you can conveniently say to the brother: ‘thank you’, and move on.
But if you know of no difference over an opinion, but it is in fact something very new to you; for instance, you do not know whether or not to drink while standing up, and someone tells you of a hadeeth, then you should act on the hadeeth.
Your excuse for not acting on the hadeeth is only when you know that there exists another opinion, and therefore, the issue involves more than just a hadeeth.
What now if you hear a scholar give you a hadeeth which is contrary to a opinion of what your scholar said.
Don’t forget the golden rule of the Prophet – SallAllahu ‘alaihi wa-sallam: Ask your heart, even if they give you fatwa after a fatwa.
If you feel in your heart that the scholar who quoted to you the hadeeth has a stronger argument, then you should follow his fatwa. If, for some reason, you do not trust him with respect to his knowledge of hadeeth and fiqh, then you should simply put your trust in the scholar you think is more knowledge and has more taqwa.
OR do you take that hadeeth, and take it to sheikh Abdullah, and see what he has to say on it?
What if Sh Abdullah has now reply to the hadeeth, should you follow the other scholar?
Yes, fatwa is not binding upon a person, so you can easily go to the other Shaykh and mention to him the hadeeth.
If the Shaykh thinks you are intellectually able to handle a fiqhi discussion, then he may decide to discuss with you. Otherwise, he is under no obligation to give you a detailed response, and likewise, you are under no obligation to follow all of his fatwas. You follow the fatwa of them one you feel your heart is settled on.
The bottom line is, so long as you have done your job – i.e. asked a qualified mufti, you are free in the sight of Allah. (meaning, in Allah’s judgement, not that Allah does NOT have a sight!)
I find it preferable to follow one Imaam, rather then going to many, I like to stick to hanbali fiqh...is there anythingw rong with that? After all I find them more precise and if I follow many opinions, then I get confused.
There is nothing wrong with that, but you will make your life difficult for no reason. Imagine, if you are travelling from city to city, and you have decided to stick to the hanbali madhab, what if you cannot locate a Hanbali mufti? What would you do? Why go down that wrote anyway, when your obligation is simpler, just ask any mufti.
If now we must follow scholars irrespective of their madhab, then in the UK, where we have so many schools, wouldn't that lead to catastrophy? so in one instance, you ask for the ruling about touching a woman, and then one scholar gives you a hanafi opinion, then on another instance, you ask about where to pray with your hands, so the shafii scholar says, pray on your chest.
So following Hanafi opinion with respect to touching a woman, and shafi’i opinion with respect to placing the hands between your chest and the navel (and not on the chest), would cause catastrophe? How is that?