The ruling on a mosque imam issuing fatwas if he is not qualified
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Does the mosque imam have the right to issue fatwas if he is not qualified for it, given that mosque imams are tested by the many questions people ask them?
Answer:
The mosque imam was not appointed as a mufti; he was appointed only as an imam. So he should not overstep into something that is not his right. He should not issue fatwas. He should tell them: Go to the people of knowledge, go to the Department of Ifta, go to those known for their knowledge. Allah did not burden them with issuing fatwas. When he became an imam, does that mean he is able to issue fatwas? No. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Does the mosque imam have the right to issue fatwas if he is not qualified for it, given that mosque imams are tested by the many questions people ask them?
Answer:
The mosque imam was not appointed as a mufti; he was appointed only as an imam. So he should not overstep into something that is not his right. He should not issue fatwas. He should tell them: Go to the people of knowledge, go to the Department of Ifta, go to those known for their knowledge. Allah did not burden them with issuing fatwas. When he became an imam, does that mean he is able to issue fatwas? No. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، الباب الثالث في انقسام أدوية أمراض القلب إلى قسمين : طبيعية وشرعية — islamhouse.com (42:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.