Mujtahidlar shogirdlari davridan keyin mazhablarga ergashuvchilar va tarafdorlar davri keldi. Ular mazhab imomlari va olimlarining ijtihodda va hukmlarni istinbot qilishda bosib o'tgan yo'lni davom ettirmadilar. Dalillarni o'rganish, hukmlarning chiqarilish yo'nalishini ochish va masalalarni tarmoqlash hamda muammolarni bayon qilish borasida mujtahidlar shogirdlari bosgan yo'lni ham davom ettirmadilar. Har bir imomning tarafdorlari yoki har bir mazhab olimlari faqat o'z mazhablarini, uning barcha masalalardagi furu'i va usulini qo'llab-quvvatlash bilan band bo'ldilar. Ular dalilning to'g'riligini o'rganishga va hatto o'z mazhablariga zid bo'lsa ham, kuchliroq dalilni zaifroq dalildan ustun qo'yishga qiziqmadilar.

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.

Ba'zan ular o'z qabul qilgan qarashlarining to'g'riligiga dalil keltirish va unga qarshi dalillarni rad etish bilan shug'ullanardilar, ba'zan esa diqqatlarini imomlarni va mazhablar olimlarini ulug'lashga qaratardilar. Bu mazhab olimlarini band qilib, ularni asosiy manba, ya'ni Qur'on va Sunnatdan chalg'itdi. Ularning har biri Qur'on yoki Sunnat matniga faqat o'z imomining mazhabini qo'llab-quvvatlovchi biror narsani topish maqsadidagina murojaat qilardi. Shunga ko'ra, ularning ilmiy tadqiqotlari o'z mazhablari doirasi bilan cheklanib qoldi. Mutlaq ijtihodga intilish va hukmlarni chiqarish uchun asosiy manbalarga murojaat qilish ishtiyoqi esa susayib ketdi. Ijtihodga bo'lgan intilishlari o'z mazhabi bilan yoki bitta masala bilan cheklandi yoki shunchaki tekshirmasdan taqlid qilish bilan cheklanib qoldi. Ularning taqlidga bo'lgan bog'liqligi shu darajaga yetdiki, ular shunday deyishdi: olimlarimiz aytganiga, ya'ni bizning mazhabimizga zid keladigan har qanday oyat yoki hadis (bizning so'zimizga mos kelishi uchun) ta'vil qilinishi kerak yoki u mansux bo'lgan. Ular mazhabga ergashishni musulmonga majburiy qilib qo'ydilar. Shu bilan birga, ular al-Azhar kabi islomiy o'quv muassasalarida o'qy boshladilar. Jawhara al-Tawheed fi wujub al-Taqlīd muallifining so'zi ham shunday:

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:

Balki, ular musulmonlar uchun ijtihod eshigi yopilishi kerak, deb hisoblar edilar. Ular ijtihodga ruxsat yo‘q, deb ta’kidlar edilar, shu darajadaki, ijtihodga layoqatli va qobiliyatli ulamolarning ko‘pchiligi ijtihod qilishga jur’at etmas yoki o‘zlarini mujtahid deb atamas edilar. Bu inqiroz hijriy IV asrning oxiriga kelib boshlangan, garchi dastlab, VI asrning oxirigacha va VII asrning boshigacha ma’lum bir taraqqiyot kuzatilgan bo‘lsa ham. Mujtahidlar va olimlar o‘sha davrda mavjud edi, o‘sha paytda al-Qaffol kabi zotlar ijtihod eshigini yopishni targ‘ib qilardilar. Shunga qaramay, hijriy VII asrning boshidan XIII asrning oxirigacha bo‘lgan davrda inqiroz to‘liq yuz berdi, ammo u Islom doirasi ichida qoldi. Inqiroz fikr sohasida bo‘lsa-da, fiqhiy hukmlar islomiy bo‘lib qolaverdi. XIII asrdan keyin, ya’ni hijriy 1274 yildan hozirgacha bo‘lgan davrda esa inqiroz shu darajaga yetdiki, shariat hukmlari islomga zid qonunlar bilan aralashib ketdi va vaziyat inqirozning eng yomon holatiga yetdi.

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.

Aynan shu fiqhiy inqirozning natijasida odamlarga Shariat hukmlariga amal qilish qiyin bo‘lib qoldi. Islom Shariati butun dunyo uchun yetarli bo‘lgandan so‘ng, ular uni o‘z izdoshlari uchun ham qiyinlashtirdilar, natijada ular boshqa, Islom Shariatiga mos kelmaydigan qonunlarga moslashishga majbur bo‘ldilar. Ko‘plab taqvodor musulmonlar Islom Shariati bo‘lmagan bir Shariatga murojaat qila boshladilar. ‘Usmonli davlatining oxirida musulmonlarning orqada qolishining va davlatlarining tugashining asosiy sababi Islomni bilmaslik va johil faqihlar edi. Qat’iy va yangi narsalarni taqiqlashga, har qanday mutafakkirning fikrlarini man etishga doim tayyor bo‘lgan faqihlar bor edi. Eng g‘alati va achinarli voqealardan biri shu bo‘ldiki, qahva paydo bo‘lganida ayrim olimlar uni taqiqlovchi fatvo berdilar, tamaki paydo bo‘lganida uni harom qilish fatvosini chiqardilar, odamlar fes kiya boshlaganida faqihlar uni kiyish harom, deb fatvo berdilar, bosmaxona paydo bo‘lib, davlat Qur’on nusxalarini chop etishga qaror qilganida esa ayrim faqihlar uni chop etishni man qildilar. Telefon ixtiro qilinganida ba’zi faqihlar odamlarga undan orqali gaplashishni taqiqladilar, va boshqa ko‘plab masalalar shunga o‘xshab davom etdi. Natijada Islom fiqhi oqibatida musulmonlar uni butunlay bilmaydigan bo‘lib qoldilar. Masala Shariat hukmlarini o‘rganishdan G‘arb qonunlarini o‘rganishga o‘zgardi. Huquq maktablari tashkil etildi; ularning musulmon mamlakatlarida mavjudligi ular uchun sharmandali dog‘ edi. ‘Usmonli davlatining oxirida — Islom davlati va uning rahbari, musulmonlarning xalifasi — qonunlarni kodifikatsiya qilishda G‘arb fiqhiga taqlid qilishga qaror qildi. Shunday qilib, ular 1282 hijriy yilda Majalla’ni fuqarolik qonuni sifatida joriy etdilar, uni amalga oshirish uchun esa 1293 hijriy yilda buyuk farmon chiqarildi, undan oldin esa 1274 hijriy yilda Usmonli jazo kodeksini tuzgan edilar. Ular hudud, jinoyat (jinoyat) va ta’zir jazolari o‘rniga buni joriy etdilar. Va 1276 hijriy yilda... H. ular Huquqlar va tijorat qonunini joriy etdilar. So'ng, 1294 hijriy yilda Xilofat tizimini butunlay bekor qilish maqsadida konstitutsiyani joriy etdilar. Biroq, u bekor qilindi va 1326 hijriy yilda (1908 milodiy yilda) qayta tiklandi. Ular uni Islomga muvofiqlashtirishga urindilar va Xilofat tizimini saqlab qoldilar. Shu tariqa fiqh (tushuncha) zaiflashdi va qoidalarga aylandi, Shariat hukmlari tark etildi, "Islomga mos keladi" degan bahona bilan Islomdan boshqa qoidalar qabul qilindi. Har qanday Islomga mos keladigan narsa istalgan insondan olinadi, degan noto'g'ri tushuncha keng tarqaldi, ulamolarning g'ayrati susaydi va ularning barchasi muqallid (taqlid qiluvchi) bo'lib qoldi. Biroq, bu Islom soyasi ostiga kirish sifatida qaraldi. Ammo Xilofat tugagandan keyin va kofirlarning, ingliz va fransuzlarning Musulmon yurtlarini bosib olishidan so'ng, Musulmon mamlakatlari arab, turk yoki eron va boshqa millatchilik asosida tashkil topgan davlatlarga aylandi. Islom fiqhi odamlarning munosabatlaridan, ta'lim va o'qishdan butunlay yo'qotildi. U faqat ayrim mamlakatlarda, masalan, Misrdagi al-Azhar, Iroqdagi Najaf, Tunisdagi Zaytuna kabi joylarda o'rganildi, ammo u yunon falsafasi o'rganilganidek o'rganildi. Tanazzul dahshatli darajaga yetdi, chunki Islom fiqhi odamlarning munosabatlaridan yo'qolib ketdi.