Bayan zamanin ɗalibai masu ijtihadi, sai suka zo masu bin mazhabobi da mabiyan mazhabobi. Ba su ci gaba a kan tafarkin da imamai da malaman mazhabobi suka bi wajen ijtihadi da istinbadi na hukunce-hukunce ba. Haka nan ba su ci gaba a kan tafarkin da ɗaliban mujtahidai suka bi ta fuskar nazarin dalilai, bayyana hanyar fahimta da tsarin reshen hukunce-hukunce da bayanin matsaloli ba. Mabiyan kowane imami ko malaman kowace mazhaba sun mayar da hankali ne kawai wajen goyon bayan mazhabarsu, suna goyon bayan furu'inta da usulinta a dukkan matsaloli. Ba su damu da bincika ingancin dalili ba, ko da nauyin hujja mafi karfi a kan mai rauni, koda kuwa hakan zai saɓa wa mazhabarsu.

After the era of the students of mujtahidin came the adherents and followers of the mazhabs. They did not continue on the path which the imams and scholars of mazahib followed in Ijtihād and in the inference (istinbat) of rules. Nor did they continue on the path taken by the students of the mujtahidin in terms of studying the evidence, clarifying the angle of eduction and the branching out of the rules and exposition of issues. The followers of each imam or the scholars of each mazhab were only concerned about supporting their own mazhab, supporting its furu’ and usul in all of the issues. They were not interested in studying the soundness of the dalīl and outweighing the preponderant evidence over the weaker evidence even if it went against their mazhab.

Wani lokaci sun kan mayar da hankali wajen kafa hujjoji don tabbatar da daidaiton ra'ayin da suka karɓa, da kuma ƙaryata hujjojin da ke adawa da shi, wani lokacin kuma hankalinsu yana kan ɗaukaka imamai da malaman mazhabobi. Wannan ya shagaltar da malaman mazhabobi, ya kuma karkatar da su daga babbar majiya wato Alƙur'ani da Sunnah. Mutum a cikinsu ba ya komawa ga nassin Alƙur'ani ko Sunnah sai dai don neman duk abin da zai goyi bayan mazhabar imaminsa. Saboda haka karatunsu ya takaita ga mazhabobinsu. Kuma himmarsu ta yin ijtihadi cikakke da komawa ga majiyoyi na asali don cire hukunce-hukunce daga cikinsu ta yi rauni. Sha'awarsu ta yin ijtihadi ta takaita ga mazhabarsu ko ga wata mas'ala guda ɗaya, ko kuma kawai su yi taqlidi ba tare da bincike ba. Dogaransu ga taqlidi ya kai ga har suka ce: duk wani aya ko hadisi da ya saba da abin da malamanmu suka ce – watau mazhabarmu – to sai a fassara shi (don ya dace da abin da muke faɗa) ko kuma an soke shi. Sun mayar da bin mazhaba wajibi ga Musulmi. Kuma suka fara karatu a cibiyoyin Musulunci kamar al-Azhar, da maganar marubucin Jawhara al-Tawheed fi wujub al-Taqlīd:

Sometimes they were concerned with establishing the proofs for the correctness of the view they have adopted and invalidate the proofs against it and at other times their interest was devoted to extolling the imams and the scholars of the mazhabs. This preoccupied the scholars of the mazahib and distracted them from the primary source which is the Qur’ān and Sunnah. A person among them did not refer to the text of the Qur’ān or Sunnah except for the purposes of finding anything that will support the mazhab of his imam. Accordingly, their studies were confined to their mazhabs. And their zeal for absolute Ijtihād and reference to the primary sources in order to derive rules from them became weak. Their eagerness for Ijtihād was restricted to their mazhab or to one issue or simply to make Taqlīd without scrutiny. Their dependence on Taqlīd reached the point where they said: any ayah or hadīth which goes against what our scholars have said – i.e, our mazhab- it is to be interpreted (to accord with what we say) or it has been abrogated. They made the following of a mazhab an obligation on the Muslim. And they began to study in Islamic institutions such as al-Azhar, the saying of the author of Jawhara al-Tawheed fi wujub al-Taqlīd:

Maimakon haka, sun yi imani cewa ƙofar Ijtihādi ya kamata a rufe ga Musulmi. Sun riƙe cewa ba a halatta Ijtihādi ba, har ta kai yawancin malamai daga cikin waɗanda suka cancanci Ijtihādi kuma suna da ƙwarewar yin sa ba su yi ƙarfin halin yin Ijtihādi ko cewa su mujtahidai ne ba. Wannan koma-baya ya fara ne a ƙarshen ƙarni na 4 bayan Hijira, ko da yake tun farko har zuwa ƙarshen ƙarni na 6 da farkon na 7 an sami wani ci gaba. Mujtahidai da malamai sun kasance a lokacin da irin su al-Qaffal ke kira da a rufe ƙofar Ijtihādi. Duk da haka, tun daga farkon ƙarni na 7 har zuwa ƙarshen ƙarni na 13 bayan Hijira koma-baya ya cika, amma yana cikin iyakokin Musulunci. Koma-baya ya kasance a cikin tunani, amma hukunce-hukuncen fiqhu sun ci gaba da zama na Musulunci. Dangane da bayan ƙarni na 13, watau daga shekarar 1274 bayan Hijira zuwa yanzu, koma-baya ya kai matsayin da dokokin Shari'ah suka gauraya da dokokin da ba na Musulunci ba, kuma yanayin ya kai matsayi mafi muni na koma-baya.

Rather, they believed that the door of Ijtihād should be closed for the Muslims. They held that Ijtihād was not permitted until many of the ‘Ulamā from amongst those who were qualified for Ijtihād and who had the aptitude for Ijtihād did not dare to perform Ijtihād or say that they were mujtahids. This decline started towards the end of the 4th century A.H, although in the beginning until the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th there was some progress. Mujtahidin and scholars were present at a time when the likes of al-Qaffal were advocating the closing of the door of Ijtihād. However, from the beginning of the 7th century until the end of the 13th century A.H the decline was complete but it was within the limits of Islam. The decline was in thought but the jurisprudential opinions remained Islamic. As for after the 13th century i.e, from 1274 A.H. till now, the decline has reached the point where the Sharī’ah rules have become mixed with unIslamic laws and the situation reached the worst possible state of decline.

Sakamakon wannan koma baya a fannin fikihu ne ya sa ya zama mai wahala ga mutane su yi aiki da hukunce-hukuncen Shari'a. Don haka, bayan Shari'ar Musulunci ta isa ga duniya baki ɗaya, sai suka sa ta zama mai wahala ko da ga masu bin ta, har suka tilastu wa kansu karɓar wasu dokoki waɗanda ba su dace da ita ba. Yawancin Musulmi masu ibada suka fara komawa ga wata Shari'a wadda ba Shari'ar Musulunci ba. Zuwa ƙarshen daular 'Usmaniyya, jahilcin Musulunci da jahilan malaman fikihu ne babban dalilin koma-bayan Musulmi da ƙarshen daularsu. Akwai malaman fikihu masu tsauri, koyaushe a shirye suke su ba da fatawar haramta duk wani sabon abu, su haramta tunanin kowane mai tunani. Daga cikin abubuwa masu ban mamaki da abin takaici da suka faru, lokacin da kofi ya bayyana, wasu malamai sun ba da fatawar haramta shi; lokacin da shan taba ya bayyana, suka ba da fatawar haramci; lokacin da mutane suka saka hular fez, malaman fikihu suka ba da fatawar cewa haramun ne a saka ta; lokacin da injin buga littattafai ya bayyana kuma gwamnati ta yanke shawarar buga kwafin Alƙur'ani, wasu malaman fikihu suka haramta a buga shi. An ƙirƙiro waya, wasu malaman fikihu suka haramta wa mutane yin magana ta cikinta, kuma wasu abubuwa da yawa suka biyo baya. Har sakamakon da ya biyo baya a fannin fikihun Musulunci shi ne Musulmi suka zama gaba ɗaya ba su san komai game da shi ba. Batun ya sauya daga nazarin hukunce-hukuncen Shari'a zuwa nazarin dokokin Yammacin Duniya. An kafa makarantun shari'a; makarantu waɗanda kasancewarsu a ƙasashen Musulmi abin kunya ne a gare su. Zuwa ƙarshen daular 'Usmaniyya, daular Musulunci da shugabanta Khalifan Musulmi, suka yanke shawarar yin koyi da fikihun Yammacin Duniya wajen tsara dokoki. Don haka suka kawo Majallah a shekarar 1282 H a matsayin dokar farar hula, kuma aka fitar da wata babbar doka a shekarar 1293 H don aiwatar da ita; kafin haka kuwa sun shirya kundin hukunce-hukuncen laifuka na Daular 'Usmaniyya a shekarar 1274 H. Suka kawo shi a maimakon hudud, da hukunce-hukuncen laifuffuka (jinayat) da hukuncin ta'zir. A shekarar 1276 H kuma... H. sun gabatar da Dokar Hakkoki da Kasuwanci. Daga baya suka gabatar da kundin tsarin mulki domin soke tsarin Khilafah gaba ɗaya a shekara ta 1294 A.H. Duk da haka, an soke shi, sannan aka sake kafa shi a shekara ta 1326 A.H. (1908 C.E.). Sai dai sun yi ƙoƙarin sa shi ya dace da Musulunci, suka kuma ci gaba da tsarin Khilafah. Ta haka ne fiqhu (fahimta mai zurfi) ya raunana, ya zama dokoki na ƙa'idoji, aka watsar da dokokin Shari'ah, aka karɓi dokokin da ba daga Musulunci suke ba bisa hujjar cewa sun dace da Musulunci. Ya yaɗu da tunani na kuskure cewa duk abin da ya dace da Musulunci ana ɗaukarsa daga kowane mutum, kuma himmar malaman ‘Ulama ta dushe, duk sun zama muqallidun (masu bin taqlidi). Duk da haka, an ɗauki hakan a matsayin yana ƙarƙashin inuwar Musulunci. Amma bayan ƙarshen Khilafah da mamayar kafirai, Turawan Ingila da Faransa, a ƙasashen Musulmi, sai ƙasashen Musulmi suka zama jihohi da aka kafa bisa tushen ƙabilanci, ko Larabci, ko Turkawa, ko Iraniyawa da sauransu. An shafe fiqhun Musulunci daga wanzuwa daga cikin dangantakar mutane da kuma ilimi da karatu. Ba a karatunsa sai a wasu ƙasashe, kamar Al-Azhar a Masar, Najaf a Iraƙi, Zaitouna a Tunisiya, amma ana karatunsa irin yadda ake karatun falsafar Girka. Koma baya ya kai matakin abin firgitarwa tun da fiqhun Musulunci ya ɓace daga dangantakar mutane.