The Meaning of Their Saying: A Fatwa Changes with the Change of Time and Place

The questioner:
How credible is the saying that a fatwa changes according to time and place, and does this mean that what is not permissible in Islamic countries is permissible elsewhere?

The Shaykh:
The religion does not change. The religion is the same from the time Allah sent His Messenger until the Hour stands. The religion does not change. But the ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) of the mujtahids (scholars qualified to derive rulings)—where no clear evidence appears, they exercise ijtihad—this changes. People’s circumstances change, and issues change. The mujtahid’s ijtihad changes, but the Shari’ah (Islamic sacred law) itself never changes. Because if a mujtahid exercises ijtihad and makes a mistake, it is said, “This is the Shari’ah,” or “This is so-and-so’s ijtihad.”

The presenter:
So their saying that a fatwa changes means the ijtihad of the mujtahids changes, not that the Shari’ah changes. The Shari’ah is the same. But this person who exercised ijtihad and erred did not conform to the Shari’ah; he contradicted the Shari’ah. This is the meaning of their saying that a fatwa changes. It does not mean that the rulings change. The Shari’ah rulings do not change. It means that a person’s ijtihad changes. Perhaps his knowledge increases over what it was before, so his ijtihad differs.

The Shaykh:
Perhaps. An evidence reaches him.

The presenter:
What did not reach him at first, his ijtihad changes. It becomes clear. He is told that he erred in his first statement. In.

The Shaykh:
Meaning in the second ijtihad.

The presenter:
He goes.

The Shaykh:
To what he sees as correct. This is why the imams have several narrations on one issue. They rule on it with a ruling, and then it becomes clear that it is contrary to what they said at first. They leave the first ijtihad and exercise new ijtihad, so they have a second and third narration according to what becomes clear to them in each period. So the mujtahid’s ijtihad, which is his work, changes.
As for the Shari’ah itself and the Shari’ah rulings themselves, they do not change; they are fixed. We should distinguish between these two. We say the Shari’ah never changes. What is halal (lawful) is lawful until the Hour stands, and what is haram (forbidden) is forbidden until the Hour stands. As for so-and-so exercising ijtihad and then, a second time, exercising ijtihad and changing the first opinion—how he changes his opinion, but the Shari’ah rulings remain in their place. Yes.