يلزم على القاصر في العلم أن يسأل العالم عن النص الوارد في المسألة من الكتاب والسنة...ويتبع هذا المنهج في جميع العبادات والمعاملات، كما كان يعمل القاصرون من الصحابة ومن بعدهم قبل ظهور المذاهب، ويشير إلى هذا المعنى قوله تعالى: {فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ}، لأن المراد بـأهل الذكر هنا: أهل الكتاب والسنة، وكتاب الله نص على اتباع الرسول صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم، واتباع الرسول (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم) ليس بتقليد. وما كان السلف يقلدون أحدا من المذاهب، بل يتبعون نصوص الكتاب والسنة. والعلماء من هؤلاء ما كانوا بحاجة إلى غيرهم، وأما القاصرون منهم في العلم، فعند مواجهتهم أية مسألة من المسائل، كانوا يسألون أهل العلم عن حكم الله ورسوله (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم) فيها، ويطلبون آية من الكتاب أو رواية من السنة، ويعملون بها، ولا يسألون أحدا: "ما هو مذهب فلان وفلان فيها؟" كما هو منهج المقلدين
It is binding upon the one who is lacking in knowledge to ask the scholar about the Text from the Book and the Sunnah that mentions the issue [that the questioner asks about]...and he follows this methodology in all issues of worship and dealings, just as those who were lacking in knowledge among the Sahabah and those after them would do before the appearance of the Madhahib; and this is alluded to (or evidenced by) the Saying of Allah Ta'aalaa (paraphrased): {So ask Ahl Al-Thikr (the people of the Remembrance) if you do not know}, because what is intended by "Ahl Al-Thikr" is: The people (i.e. scholars) of the Book and the Sunnah, and the Book of Allah has Textual evidence on the obligation of following the Messenger sallaa Allahu 'alaihi wa 'alaa Aalihi wa sallam, and following the Messenger (sallaa Allahu 'alaihi wa 'alaa Aalihi wa sallam) is not Taqlid. And the Salaf did not used to make Taqlid of any one of the [scholars] of the Madhahib, rather they followed the Texts of the Book and the Sunnah. And the scholars among them were not in need of anyone besides themselves. As for those who were less knowledgeable among them, then in those cases in which they were faced with an issue, they would ask the people of knowledge about the Ruling of Allah and His Messenger (sallaa Allahu 'alaihi wa 'alaa Aalihi wa sallam) concerning it, and in doing so would request an Aayah from the Book or a narration from the Sunnah, and would act on it, and they would not ask anyone: "What is the Madhhab of so-and-so and so-and-so concerning this issue?" as is the methodology of the Muqallidin
—Al-'Allamah Siddiq Hasan Khan rahimahu Allah, Dalil Al-Talib 'Alaa Arjahh Al-Matalib, p. 53, Dar Al-Da'i Lil Nashr Wal-Tawzi', Riyadh