From Whom We Take the Ruling When Scholars Disagree

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This sister, the questioner, Umm Muram from al-Jubayl, says: Fatwas have multiplied, and so have those who issue them. How do we deal with these differences? And from whom do we take the fatwa, O Honorable Shaykh? And if the fatwa differs from one mufti to another, what is our position regarding that? May you be rewarded.

Answer:
Allah the Exalted commanded asking the people of knowledge, who are the scholars. So the common people, the half-learned, and the beginning students do not ask these people; rather, they ask the scholars known for their knowledge. So in the fatwa, you follow the one in whose knowledge and religion you have trust, and you leave the one who is not so. The matter is a matter of conscience and a matter of religion, so you must take what clears your conscience and to which your heart finds peace, and do not take every statement, or every fatwa, or from everyone who is not known for knowledge or not known for taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) and wara' (scrupulousness). Yes.