Title: Which Madhab (Muslim Juristic School) Do You Follow? Question: My name is Ali, I am Malaysian, in response to your answer on divorce, I would like to ask you some questions on law of divorce in Pakistan- by the way I am a university in Malaysia and one of my minor subjects is the Shari`ah . In Pakistan, which fiqh school do you prefer to follow in giving Shari`ah decisions? Say, if this case happens else where for instance, here where the dominant fiqh mazhab is Shafie School would your answer be different? Wassalam Answer: Firstly, I would like to clarify that I did not answer the referred question according to the law of Pakistan. On the contrary, I gave my opinion regarding the issue as I understood it in the light of the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the sayings ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). Now, coming to your specific questions, I would like to clarify that I do not follow any specific juristic Muslim school, generally, as well as specifically while giving answers to question that are addressed to me. I try to answer all these questions in the light of my understanding of Islam through the Qur'an and the Sunnah . I am sure that my answer to your second question should be quite clear from my answer to your first question. In any case, to avoid any confusion, I would like to state that because my opinion is not based on the country of my residence, it is not very likely that my answer would have been any different if I was residing in Malaysia or any where else. In the end, I would like to mention that in all the cases where a law has been implemented by the state, it is necessary to abide by that law, unless such abiding translates into a disobedience to any directive of the Qur'an or the Sunnah . Obviously, this means that a Pakistani should abide by the law of divorce implemented in Pakistan, while a Malaysian should do the same with respect to the Malaysian law. I do accept that my opinion could be different, in some cases, from the law implemented in my country. However, if the law itself gives a certain amount of leverage, there is no reason why a person should not follow what he thinks is more in accordance with the directives of the Shari`ah . The same would be the case where the matter is not referred to a court of law, or where the person asking the question is not subject to the particular law. 1 st August 1999