The ruling on consulting more than one scholar on the same issue
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Is it permissible to consult more than one scholar? And if the fatwas differ, should the questioner follow the easier one or the more cautious one? May Allah reward you with good.
It is not permissible for a person, if he has consulted a scholar in whom he has confidence, to consult someone else; because this leads to playing with the religion of Allah and seeking out dispensations; such that he asks one person, and if the answer does not suit him, he asks a second, and if that does not suit him, he asks a third, and so on.
And the scholars said regarding seeking out dispensations: This is open sinfulness.
But sometimes a person may have no scholar available except, for example, a specific individual, so he asks him out of dire necessity, with the intention that if he meets a scholar who is more trustworthy in his knowledge and religion, he will ask him. There is nothing wrong with asking the first one out of dire necessity, and then asking the one who is better when he finds him.
And if the scholars differ with him in the fatwa, or in what he hears of their sermons and advice—for example—he should follow the one he sees as closer to the truth in his knowledge and religion. If the two men are equal in his estimation in knowledge and religion, some scholars said: He should follow the more cautious one, which is the stricter.
And it was said: He should follow the easier one, and this is the correct position; that if the fatwas are equal in your estimation, you follow the easier one; because the religion of Allah the Exalted is built on ease and simplicity, not on strictness.
And 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said in describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (He was never given a choice between two matters except that he chose the easier of them, as long as it was not a sin) .
It is not permissible for a person, if he has consulted a scholar in whom he has confidence, to consult someone else; because this leads to playing with the religion of Allah and seeking out dispensations; such that he asks one person, and if the answer does not suit him, he asks a second, and if that does not suit him, he asks a third, and so on.
And the scholars said regarding seeking out dispensations: This is open sinfulness.
But sometimes a person may have no scholar available except, for example, a specific individual, so he asks him out of dire necessity, with the intention that if he meets a scholar who is more trustworthy in his knowledge and religion, he will ask him. There is nothing wrong with asking the first one out of dire necessity, and then asking the one who is better when he finds him.
And if the scholars differ with him in the fatwa, or in what he hears of their sermons and advice—for example—he should follow the one he sees as closer to the truth in his knowledge and religion. If the two men are equal in his estimation in knowledge and religion, some scholars said: He should follow the more cautious one, which is the stricter.
And it was said: He should follow the easier one, and this is the correct position; that if the fatwas are equal in your estimation, you follow the easier one; because the religion of Allah the Exalted is built on ease and simplicity, not on strictness.
And 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said in describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (He was never given a choice between two matters except that he chose the easier of them, as long as it was not a sin) .