The Ruling on Dealing with a Scholar Who Makes a Mistake

Question:
May Allah reward you. The questioner says: If a scholar makes a mistake, how should one deal with him? And what is your view of those who say that we must warn people against this scholar, and that if we do not, we will have wasted the advice to the Muslim community and wasted the warning against the innovators?

Answer:
A scholar’s mistake differs depending on whether it is in matters of creed. If there is a defect in his creed and misguidance in his creed, then it is obligatory that he be warned about this. If he retracts it, well and good; otherwise, he is to be left alone and one should distance oneself from him. But if the mistake is in matters of Islamic jurisprudence, matters of independent legal reasoning, then the evidence is looked at. If the evidence is with him, he is in the right. If the evidence is with someone else, it is made clear to him; it is made clear to him, but he is not boycotted. These matters of Islamic jurisprudence do not necessitate boycotting. This is only in matters of creed and the fundamentals. As for disagreement in matters of Islamic jurisprudence and branches, the mistake is made clear. If he returns to the truth, praise be to Allah; otherwise, he is not boycotted, because you know that the matter is broad in issues of independent legal reasoning. The matter is broad in issues of independent legal reasoning, and the scholars say that there is no forbidding of evil in matters of independent legal reasoning.