I am a Muslim student. My friend wants to embrace Islam. Is it necessary that he follow a Madhab? If yes, please cite Qur'an or Hadith to support your answer.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

What is required of a Muslim is to obey Allah, The Most-High, obey the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam), and obey the scholars acting upon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam).

Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad (SAW), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority….}[4:59].

If a calamity befalls upon a Muslim, he should seek the Fatwa of people he thinks would give him a ruling according to the religion (Book) of Allah and (Sunnah of) his Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) regardless of which school of thought he belongs to.  It is not obligatory on him to follow a particular school of thought because we accept and reject the saying of every person, except the words of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam).

Following a particular school of thought because one is unable to get the Islamic knowledge is permissible, but this is not what everybody should do if is able to seek Islamic knowledge from other sources.

The author of ‘Insaf’ said: 'Sticking to a particular school of thought and refraining from taking from other schools of thought in a particular issue, is of two kinds: according to Malik and Shafi’e (may Allah have Mercy on them) but not sticking to a particular school is the preferred opinion.' [End of the text]

The author of ‘I’lam Al Muwaqin’ said: 'This is the absolute truth.'

Ibn Muflih in his book “the Principles” said: 'Not sticking to a particular school of thought is the opinion of the majority of scholars.'  Ibn Burhan and Nawawi said that  'this is the predominant opinion.'

The evidence for this is that the companions did not disapprove of the imitation of some of them in some issues by the common people, and the imitation of some other companions in other issues.  But this does not mean that we can move from one Madhab to another or not stick to one Madhab just in order to find the easiest ruling and the one which best suits our desires, as this is forbidden.

Imam Ahmad (may Allah have Mercy on him) said: "If a person follows the opinion of Ahl Al Kufa regarding wine, and the people of Medina in relation to listening to music, and the people of Makkah in relation to temporary marriage, he would be considered a Fassiq (dissolute)."

It is reported in the Sunan of Al Baihaqi, that Al Awzai said: 'Whoever prefers to follow the exceptional rulings of Ulamah (scholars) gets out of the fold of Islam.'

The objective of a person seeking a Fatwa should be to find out the truth and abide by it.

Allah knows best.