The Shaykh’s criticism of those who claim independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) while not being qualified for it.

The Shaykh : I think you do not need to be reminded that it has now become widespread... in contrast to the negligence that persisted for centuries among the great scholars who were qualified to engage with the texts of the Book and the Sunnah. Yet they remained steadfast, following the schools of jurisprudence (madhahib) throughout those centuries, to the point that adhering to a school became a matter of faith. But now, it has become a very strange and unusual reaction. Everyone, even those who may not be able to read a verse as it was revealed—although its writing has been perfected and its letters vocalized such that no one is excused for making a mistake in reciting it, unlike the hadith, where the care taken in vocalizing the texts was not as great as the care taken in vocalizing the Qur'anic verses—some of those who climb to the rank of ijtihad in the jurisprudence of the Qur'an and the Sunnah do not only fail to recite a hadith as it was recited or read by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but they also fail to recite a verse as it was revealed. The scholars of hadith have stated that it is obligatory for a student of knowledge to perfect his pronunciation by studying the Arabic language, including its grammar and morphology, so that he does not fall into mispronunciation (lahn), which is equivalent to lying about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and incurs the warning in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is a notable and tangible sign in this time: the claim of ijtihad, and even less than that, the innovation (bid'ah) that requires the ability to prefer one opinion over another. One claims this ijtihad, let alone mere following, of the kind we described earlier. This has occurred in jurisprudence, and extensively in this era as well, and similarly, though to a lesser extent, in the ijtihad of weakening or authenticating hadiths.