What is the ruling on referring to books to know the rulings of the Shari'ah?

Question : The questioner asks: Is it permissible to refer to books of knowledge, such as books of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and commentaries on hadith, to understand the texts, or is it necessary to know the texts from a scholar or shaykh?

Answer : Knowing the texts and their meanings from a scholar is the closer path. It is a closer path than knowing them from books, because knowing them from books requires more perseverance and long toil, and a person may perhaps understand them poorly. As is the case now with many who engage in reviewing books only; you find among them poor understandings that do not lead to good outcomes. So, for a person to connect with a shaykh whom he sees as qualified to learn from is better and more excellent. It has been said: "Whoever seeks knowledge without a shaykh goes astray from the straight path, and knowledge becomes confused for him until he becomes more astray than the wise owl who gives away daughters to men seeking thereby the gardens of bliss." And with this, we do not fully accept this verse, but we say that taking knowledge from the depths of books requires great dedication and much attention, and one is generally not safe from taking from the depths of books with negligence and lack of care.