Identifying Reliable Scholars for Seeking Fatwas
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner asks: How does a Muslim identify reliable scholars when he wants to seek their fatwas?
Answer:
People look at the crowds, meaning they look at the people and their gathering around some scholars rather than others, and they follow the one whom the people gather around. People know scholars in general, but not as individuals. However, if the people as a whole gather around a person and Allah has granted him acceptance, then that is evidence that he is the one to turn to in this matter. Yes. And likewise, if the one in authority designates certain people for issuing fatwas and guiding the Muslims, designating certain people for fatwas, then you turn to them in this matter. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner asks: How does a Muslim identify reliable scholars when he wants to seek their fatwas?
Answer:
People look at the crowds, meaning they look at the people and their gathering around some scholars rather than others, and they follow the one whom the people gather around. People know scholars in general, but not as individuals. However, if the people as a whole gather around a person and Allah has granted him acceptance, then that is evidence that he is the one to turn to in this matter. Yes. And likewise, if the one in authority designates certain people for issuing fatwas and guiding the Muslims, designating certain people for fatwas, then you turn to them in this matter. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل وأما تسميته بالصوت الأحمق والصوت الفاجر — islamhouse.com (1:08:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.