Permissibility of issuing fatwas on apparent matters
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We are teachers, and some questions are directed to us, so we answer the students with what we know. Is this considered issuing a fatwa and being presumptuous before Allah (Mighty and Majestic)?
If it is based on what you know to be the truth, then there is no presumption in it.
The questioner: Are we then in the position of a mufti, answering them?The Shaykh: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Convey from me, even if it is a single verse”. The point is whether you are certain, or not.
The questioner: If the ruling is apparent and clear?The Shaykh: For example, if a student asks you and says, “What do you say about unlawful sexual intercourse?” You say it is forbidden; there is no doubt in that. But if he asks you about a matter that only a student of knowledge knows, and you think, or it seems to you, that it is permissible, and that it is forbidden, and you issue a fatwa on that, then that is not permissible. But the apparent matter is apparent.
The questioner: The difficulty is when the ruling is hidden at the present time. One may know the ruling but not be certain of it due to forgetting the evidence, for example?The Shaykh: No.
He waits and says to the student: Wait until I research it, or until I ask; because as long as the word is in your heart, you owe nothing, but once it comes out, you no longer control it.
If it is based on what you know to be the truth, then there is no presumption in it.
The questioner: Are we then in the position of a mufti, answering them?The Shaykh: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Convey from me, even if it is a single verse”. The point is whether you are certain, or not.
The questioner: If the ruling is apparent and clear?The Shaykh: For example, if a student asks you and says, “What do you say about unlawful sexual intercourse?” You say it is forbidden; there is no doubt in that. But if he asks you about a matter that only a student of knowledge knows, and you think, or it seems to you, that it is permissible, and that it is forbidden, and you issue a fatwa on that, then that is not permissible. But the apparent matter is apparent.
The questioner: The difficulty is when the ruling is hidden at the present time. One may know the ruling but not be certain of it due to forgetting the evidence, for example?The Shaykh: No.
He waits and says to the student: Wait until I research it, or until I ask; because as long as the word is in your heart, you owe nothing, but once it comes out, you no longer control it.