The Ruling on Facilitation by Adopting Opinions and the Response to Those Who Attack Scholars

Question:
Our honorable Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), with the approach of this blessed season, we find that some of the sincere brothers among the callers to Allah and students of knowledge have engaged in what is called the jurisprudence of facilitation. We truly suffer from this, especially during Hajj. When there is disagreement on an issue and the evidence is mentioned, they say, "In the name of making things easy for the people, we will sail into this sea and go to the opinion of so-and-so and so-and-so." You often find that, Honorable Shaykh, in the issue there is only the opinion of one of the Tabi'un or one of the generation after the Tabi'un. Then, when you argue with him using evidence, he says, "So-and-so said it." Does the opinion of a scholar mean that it is prescribed for a student of knowledge or a caller to issue a fatwa based on it, rather than on true knowledge? There may be texts that are nearly explicit on the issue? The second matter, Honorable Shaykh, is that people in the media and through information networks are truly waging a war against three categories of people, whom Allah will hold to account: the scholars, especially the Committee of Senior Scholars and the Permanent Committee; the men of Hisbah (religious police) and the bodies; and the women in our country, like whom we know of none, and we do not praise anyone above Allah in this land, who care for the modest woman. The war against them is through disparaging them and alluding to them, not for their own sake, but for their adherence to the straight path of Allah's Shari'ah. So, what is the ruling, Your Eminence the Shaykh, on conforming to such things, so that people may benefit from it? And the first question, Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good, is for the mufti and the one seeking a fatwa.

Answer:
Good. Meaning, he hears such things. I ask Allah the Glorious and Exalted to act upon your knowledge and to reward you with the best reward, as well as those in charge of these blessed calls. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. May Allah bless you. We ask Allah the Mighty and Majestic to facilitate the answer to these two questions in a way that conforms to the Book and the Sunnah and benefits the listeners. We say regarding the first question: those who engage in facilitation and adopt opinions. Opinions are many and disagreement is common, but facilitation is not in adopting the opinions of men and scholars. Rather, facilitation is adopting the evidence. What the evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger points to is the facilitation, because Allah the Glorious and Exalted says: . So the ease and legal dispensations in cases of dire necessity are found in the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger, not in the words of some people or the opinions of men. Therefore, adopting opinions is not facilitation; rather, it is feared that the one who adopts them will deviate from the correct path. As for the one who holds an opinion and disagrees, he is acting on independent legal reasoning and is excused for his reasoning if he is a scholar. But he is not to be followed in his error. If we know that this opinion contradicts the evidence, we reject it, even if it was said by one of the great Imams, let alone those below them. So facilitation is not adopting opinions devoid of evidence. Rather, all facilitation, praise be to Allah, is in what the evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) points to.
As for the answer to the second point, which is that there are those who attack the scholars, including the Committee of Senior Scholars and the Permanent Committee, and there are those who stir up war to lead women away from the morals of Islam to European morals, and so on. These people have predecessors among the hypocrites about whom the Qur'an was revealed. Allah the Glorious and Exalted said: .
This is the Qur'an, and this is not from me. This is the word of Allah the Glorious and Exalted, that Allah ruled them as disbelievers because of their mockery of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), his Companions, and the people of knowledge. What did they say? They said, "We have not seen anyone like these reciters of ours; they are the most greedy in their bellies, the most cowardly in battle, and the most lying in their tongues." So Allah revealed this verse about them. Therefore, it is not permissible to speak ill of the people of knowledge, nor is it permissible to speak about what deviates from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, such as leading women away from the Shari'ah morals to morals that contradict the Shari'ah. This is a contradiction of Allah's ruling. This is not a benefit for the woman, but rather, by Allah, it is a harm to her, because she is taken out of what Allah prescribed for her, which is in the interest of her religion and her worldly life, and which is mercy for her. They have taken her out to a sphere that is not her domain. There are many examples of this, and what has happened in some Arab and Islamic countries where people were deceived by these advertisements, and what was their end? So let this be a lesson for us to beware of this.