Error in Ijtihad
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The second question of Fatwa number (9907)
Q2: There are matters in which a person does not know the ruling of the religion, and a person may err as a result of his lack of knowledge. After a period of time, a person may come to know the ruling of the religion in some of these matters. Is a person held accountable for his actions when he did not know the ruling of the religion in the matter at hand? And is there repentance from the error a person commits due to his lack of knowledge after he has learned the ruling of the religion?
A2: Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions... To proceed: If the matter in which he erred is one of the matters of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) in which scholars have disagreed, and his error was not due to following his desires, and he did not go beyond
the opinion of the scholars who disagreed on it, then there is no sin on him and no blame, and repentance is not obligatory for him regarding that. Rather, it is obligatory for him to follow what appears to be the truth if he is among the people of knowledge. Otherwise, it is obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge before he proceeds to do anything in which he does not know the ruling of Allah; for Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nahl 16:43] . And success is from Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q2: There are matters in which a person does not know the ruling of the religion, and a person may err as a result of his lack of knowledge. After a period of time, a person may come to know the ruling of the religion in some of these matters. Is a person held accountable for his actions when he did not know the ruling of the religion in the matter at hand? And is there repentance from the error a person commits due to his lack of knowledge after he has learned the ruling of the religion?
A2: Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions... To proceed: If the matter in which he erred is one of the matters of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) in which scholars have disagreed, and his error was not due to following his desires, and he did not go beyond
the opinion of the scholars who disagreed on it, then there is no sin on him and no blame, and repentance is not obligatory for him regarding that. Rather, it is obligatory for him to follow what appears to be the truth if he is among the people of knowledge. Otherwise, it is obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge before he proceeds to do anything in which he does not know the ruling of Allah; for Allah the Exalted said:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.