Is the person of legal capacity free to choose between opinions in matters of scholarly disagreement?

Question : The questioner asks: Is the person of legal capacity free to choose between the opinions of scholars in matters of disagreement, as long as every opinion is supported by evidence, so that there is no blame on him for that? Or is he not? We ask for clarification, and may Allah reward you with good.

Answer : This question is very important, especially in this time when people have become acquainted with the opinions of scholars and have come to hear or read about the disagreement among the people of knowledge. We say first that it is obligatory for the scholars who differ in these matters not to make this disagreement a cause of enmity, hatred, discord, and division, because that is not the way of the Muslims. Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: they came And Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet: .
And what we see and hear, unfortunately, is that these people who differ take their disagreement as a path to conflict, discord, and the division of the Ummah, saying, "You are with me and not with so-and-so?" and the like of the words we hear. This is an error. It is obligatory that if a person knows that the other's intention is good, that he seeks the truth, and that he has not contradicted an explicit text, but rather has differed in a matter where there is room for independent legal reasoning, then it is permissible. It is not befitting to be hostile toward him for this, nor to take his disagreement as a means to divide the Muslims. For this reason, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) differed in many matters while they were on the heart of one man, with no conflict or disagreement among them. This is regarding those who differ. As for those who hear these differing opinions, it is undoubtedly better for a man to follow the one he sees as closer to the correct opinion. Because the man who heard the disagreement is in the position of a patient for whom two or more doctors have prescribed a treatment for his illness; he will undoubtedly take the opinion of the doctor he sees as closer, either in his knowledge or in his advice. Similarly, matters of Islamic sacred law are medicine for the hearts, so a person should, when he hears the disagreement of the scholars, take the one he sees as closer to the correct opinion, either because of the breadth of his knowledge or because of his religion and trustworthiness.
And I say that it is befitting, and I do not say that it is obligatory, because some of the scholars of knowledge hold that it is obligatory to take the opinion of the one he sees as closer to the correct opinion. But I do not see that it is obligatory. This is because if a dispute occurs between two scholars and one is closer to the correct opinion in his statement, it does not necessarily follow that he is closer to the correct opinion in every matter. We find that great scholars err in a matter, and one who is below them in knowledge is more correct than they are. Therefore, we do not see that it is obligatory for a person to take the statement of the one who is more knowledgeable in every matter. And because if we made that obligatory, we would make obligatory the following of other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the imitation of other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is the matter that brought the calamity upon the Islamic Ummah in the division into the schools of jurisprudence that arose after the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). However, if the two scholars are unknown to this questioner or this listener, and he does not know which of them is closer to the correct opinion in his knowledge or trustworthiness, the scholars of knowledge have also differed on whether it is obligatory for him to take the stricter opinion because it is safer, or to take the easier opinion because it is in accordance with the Shari'ah. For the Shari'ah in its entirety, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was never given a choice between two things except that he chose the easier of them. So if you are ignorant of the state of the two differing scholars, some of the scholars hold that you take the stricter opinion because it is safer, and some hold that you take the easier opinion because it is more in accordance with the spirit of Islamic religion and knowledge with Allah.