If some scholars issue a ruling and others issue a ruling contrary to it, whom should the common people follow?

The questioner : A questioner says: If some scholars issue a ruling on a certain issue, and another group of scholars issues a ruling contrary to the first, which one should the common people follow?

The Shaykh : The answer is that the majority of Muslims must have a general culture. The common people must have a general Islamic culture. I mean the general culture that every Muslim must know, even if he is a common person. He must know that the truth does not multiply. The truth does not multiply. So if, as mentioned in the question, there are two opinions, two contradictory opinions, this common person must keep in mind that one of them is correct and the other is wrong, by the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: And if he keeps this principle in mind, it will urge him to ask the people of knowledge. You say it is permissible, and you say it is not permissible. What is your evidence, and what is your evidence? This will open up for him a path of understanding and awareness, and he will then choose what his soul finds open to and what his heart finds at peace with, and he will be rewarded. But as for acting contrary to this legal principle and saying, as many people say today, "Whoever follows a scholar will meet Allah in safety," where did this phrase come from? It is not in the Book of Allah, nor in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, it is on the tongues of the common people: "Whoever follows a scholar will meet Allah in safety." No. But whoever follows the guidance of Allah is the one who is guided, and whoever goes astray, upon him is the loss. We told you earlier that Allah said: The people of knowledge said: The intended meaning of "knowledge" here is not the knowledge known by some ignorant Sufis, which is dancing in the remembrance and madness in it, and they call it, as he (peace be upon him) said on another occasion: So the remembrance in the verse is the Qur'an, as He, Mighty and Majestic, said: So the remembrance here is the Qur'an And here is another note for this questioner who asks: This one says it is permissible, and this one says it is not permissible. My brother, look: are they truly scholars? Are they scholars of the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or are they differing to the greatest extent? This one issues rulings based on the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and that one perhaps walks on four legs, meaning he does not walk on the Book and the Sunnah, but rather on the four schools of jurisprudence, taking from them whatever he desires. How vast is the difference between this one and that one! Therefore, the common person should distinguish. We say "common person" (‘ammī) does not mean he does not reason. No. If he did not reason, he would be insane, and if he were insane, he would not be accountable. But he does reason, except that he is not a scholar. So he must engage his mind. When two opinions come to him, either one of them came from a non-scholar, in which case that opinion has no weight, and the first opinion is purified. And this may happen. We do not deny that both of them are scholars of the Book and the Sunnah, but the issue is one of the points of contention and disagreement. This happens, as it happened in the past, and it can happen today. Here, this common person must engage his mind and free himself from his desires, and not follow desire, lest he go astray from the path of Allah. And he (peace be upon him) said: But unfortunately, if the specialists today are astonished by things, they say to you, "My brother, all of them are from the Messenger of Allah," and they take from the schools of jurisprudence whatever suits them. So what can we say about the common people? And as it was said:
"If the master of the house is beating the drum, *** then the residents have no choice but to dance."
If the specialists are in this state, except for whom Allah wills, and they are few, what will be the state of the common people? We remind the specialists and the common people that religion is not desire, but rather it is knowledge. And the common people must learn how to ask. Perhaps I have mentioned more than once in some of these blessed gatherings, if Allah wills, the hadith that Imam Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a group for jihad in the path of Allah, and one of them was wounded in his body. When he woke up in the morning, he found himself in need of the full ritual bath. He asked those around him if they could find a dispensation for him not to bathe. They said, "No. You must bathe." So he bathed and died, because the wounds he had suffered, when water touched them, became infected and rusted, and his fever rose, and the man died. When the news reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he, peace and blessings be upon him, was extremely angry and said: Meaning those who issued the ruling that he must bathe were the cause of his death. And he should have only performed dry ablution with clean earth. So if these people issued a ruling without knowledge, we take a lesson from this hadith that it is not permissible for the common people to ask just anyone who may claim knowledge or be attributed knowledge. Rather, they should ask the one you, O Muslim, know does not issue a ruling except from what Allah said and what the Messenger of Allah said. That is the one to whom you should direct your question. As for these people who say what they do not know and issue rulings contrary to what came in the Book and the Sunnah, these are not scholars. And these are the ones the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) foretold about when he said, as in the authentic hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ibn al-‘As (may Allah be pleased with them both): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: This is the reality of many of the officials today, those who think they are among the people of knowledge, so the common questioner falls into confusion. This one says it is forbidden, and this one says it is lawful, or this one says it is obligatory, and this one says it is a recommended practice, or other disputed issues. A process of purification must be carried out in the minds of all the common people: purifying the scholar of the Book and the Sunnah from the scholar who, as some witty people in our Syrian land said, "Scholars are of two types: a type who is a scholar and a practitioner, and a type who is a practitioner and a scholar." Did you distinguish with me? A scholar and a practitioner means he practices with his knowledge, and the other, a practitioner and a scholar, means he practices his state, and he is a scholar, but he has nothing to do with knowledge. And unfortunately, this exists. And the one who does not know should try. Ask whomever you wish from those you think are known among the people of knowledge, and we do not name them, even by title. Ask whomever you wish about any jurisprudential issue in which there is disagreement. He will say to you, "Based on the school of jurisprudence in which I grew up and matured, I will issue a ruling for you." You say to him, "What is the evidence?" He will say to you, "Are we people of evidence? We are not taught by evidence." This is if he is frank. But if he is taciturn, he will say to you, "You do not know the evidence." So he conceals his ignorance by making others ignorant. This is, unfortunately, the reality of many people today, and we seek help from Allah. Others, O professor, time is catching up with us.

The questioner : In another question, in the same question.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.