[12] While initially having been an adherent of the Zahiri school of Muslim jurisprudence, Ibn Abd al-Barr later switched to the Maliki school,[13] which was the officially recognized legal code of the Umayyad dynasty, under which he lived.

His book on the three great Sunni jurists Malik ibn Anas, Al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifa noticeably excluded both his former patron Dawud al-Zahiri and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

"[9] Ibn Abd al-Barr was a supporter of taqlid, or following an Islamic school of jurisprudence.

[16] Ibn Abd al-Barr wrote in his book, Jami' Bayan al-'Ilm wa Fadlihi: "The scholars do not differ on the point that the laymen must make Taqlid their respective Imams.

Similarly, the scholars do not differ on the point that the laymen are not permitted to give religious verdicts.