The Reality of Knowledge, and Who Are the Scholars?

The Shaykh : So, what is knowledge, so that when we are told something, we do not say: "By Allah, so-and-so the scholar issued this ruling?" We must understand knowledge in its true reality; what is it? And by doing so, we will know who the scholars are.
You have just heard that knowledge is: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said, the Companions said. Knowledge is not what you hear explicitly from some of these people who come to you with new rulings, saying to you: "This is my opinion, and you are free." In Islam, it is not "this is my opinion and you are free." Rather, you must issue rulings based on what Allah said, what the Messenger of Allah said, and what our righteous predecessors (Salaf) were upon. If there is no opinion from the scholars who passed away regarding a new issue, then by Allah, independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) is necessary, and expressing an opinion is necessary. But the opinion must be based on those three sources: the Book, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus (ijma'). As for a person who positions himself to issue a ruling that contradicts the predecessors (Salaf) before us, and even contradicts the explicit texts of the Book and the Sunnah by interpreting these texts in a way that aligns with his opinion, and concludes by saying: "This is my opinion."
The scholars of knowledge say: "When the report (athar) comes, the reasoning (nazar) is invalidated." When the report comes from Allah and His Messenger, or from the Companions, there is no longer room for reasoning. They also say in another phrase: "There is no independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) where there is an explicit text (nass)." And they also say in old Arabic: "When the river of Allah comes, the river of Maqil is invalidated." So, this opinion can only have validity and acceptance if it does not contradict either a verse or a hadith, or what the predecessors (Salaf) were upon in interpreting a verse or interpreting an authentic hadith. Therefore, we must know how to study jurisprudence (fiqh) and how to learn. We do not impose—as some people imagine, and some may even state explicitly—we do not want every person to become a scholar and a jurist (faqih) in the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). For this is not an easy matter for most people, even for many of those who have positioned themselves to express opinions that contradict the Book and the Sunnah. It is not easy for such people to perform independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) that relies on the Book and the Sunnah. Relying on the Book requires that the one relying on it refer to the books of exegesis (tafsir) that we mentioned. And relying on the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) requires relying on what is authentic from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
And so, when he wants to perform independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and express his opinion on an issue that has occurred, he must have relied on the general evidences from the Book of Allah and from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, whoever is not of this caliber is not a scholar; because all the scholars agreed that the scholar is the one who says in everything he goes to: "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said."