The Layman's Position When Fatwas Differ
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks: What is the layman's position when multiple fatwas exist regarding the same issue? Is he required to consult the most knowledgeable scholar, or is it sufficient for him to follow the fatwa of the scholars?
Answer:
Fatwas are the domain of specific people; the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta is designated for this purpose, and one refers to it for fatwas. Likewise, anyone who possesses the requisite qualifications and the fear of Allah—anyone who has scholarly competence and fears Allah—you may ask him, even if he is not a member of the Permanent Committee. Allah the Exalted and Majestic said:[An-Nahl 16:43] Yes.
The questioner asks: What is the layman's position when multiple fatwas exist regarding the same issue? Is he required to consult the most knowledgeable scholar, or is it sufficient for him to follow the fatwa of the scholars?
Answer:
Fatwas are the domain of specific people; the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta is designated for this purpose, and one refers to it for fatwas. Likewise, anyone who possesses the requisite qualifications and the fear of Allah—anyone who has scholarly competence and fears Allah—you may ask him, even if he is not a member of the Permanent Committee. Allah the Exalted and Majestic said:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Source
مجالس رمضانية: الحث على زيادة الاجتهاد في الأعمال الصالحة فيما بقي من شهر رمضان. السبت-10-09-1439هـ. — alfawzan.live (26:00)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.