Does the layperson sin if he contradicts the scholar's fatwa?

The Shaykh : Yes.
Al-Huwaini: All right, in the book of Imam al-Shatibi, *Al-Muwafaqat*, he said this phrase: "The scholar's fatwa is to the layperson what the evidence is to the mujtahid." We want clarification of this phrase. Does the layperson sin if he contradicts the imam's fatwa, just as the scholar sins if he contradicts the evidence?

The Shaykh : Without a doubt, I agree with the statement of Imam al-Shatibi. There is no doubt that if a layperson contradicts the fatwa of the mufti who issued it to him without a valid legal excuse, he is first following his own desires. Then, he is contradicting the implication of the words of our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He: . When our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, commanded the general public in this verse to ask the people of knowledge, do you think... does any person of sound mind who worships his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, understand from this verse: , and then say, "If he wishes, he will act on what the mufti has ruled for him, and if he wishes, he will not"?! Does anyone understand it this way, or is the correct understanding: , so that you act on what the people of knowledge rule for you?
Is there any disagreement regarding the correctness of this understanding of the verse? And it is so. Therefore, if a layperson asks a scholar and he issues a fatwa, he must implement that fatwa, except in the case where doubt or suspicion enters him regarding that fatwa. This happens often, especially in the last times, when the people of knowledge have become like the people of ignorance, as our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in the agreed-upon hadith from Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-As, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . So if a layperson is tested by asking a man he thinks is a scholar, and he issues a fatwa like the fatwa of your Tantawi regarding the permissibility of saving money in a savings account
Al-Huwaini: Bank interest for investment

The Shaykh : Ah, so if a layperson is tested by such a fatwa from this Egyptian Tantawi, and doubt enters him regarding this fatwa, so he does not act on it until he asks Zayd, Bakr, and Amr until his heart is reassured and his chest opens up to the fatwa, then it is obligatory for him to act on it. But if none of this doubt or suspicion enters him, then what we mentioned earlier applies, which the previous verse indicates: . And this indicates the correctness of the statement of Samik Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi that the mufti's fatwa is to the layperson what the evidence is to others; otherwise, religion would become chaos and religion would become mere desire, and there would be no benefit in such as the saying of Allah, the Exalted: . On this occasion, I want to draw attention to the fact that some of our brothers who are on our methodology of acting upon the Book of our Lord, the Sunnah of our Prophet, and the Salaf al-Salih, exaggerate when they oblige all Muslims, every single one of them, to know the evidence for the issue in every issue. They do not permit them to accept the mufti's ruling—halal, haram, obligatory, not permissible, and so on—unless it is accompanied by the evidence! This is exaggeration and this is excess in obligating what is not obligatory for the general people. From here, I arrive at drawing attention to the necessity of the qualification we always emphasize in our da'wah: that we do not limit ourselves to calling to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah only, but we add to that, and follow the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih, because their methodology clarifies for us many matters that may be hidden from the masses of the people of knowledge, let alone students of knowledge, let alone those below them. This issue is of this nature. What does the researcher find in the athar of the Salaf when the one seeking a fatwa would come to ask Ibn Umar or Ibn Mas'ud and others of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Did the mufti, when he issued a fatwa based on his opinion and ijtihad, say, "And the evidence is such and such"? No, this may happen sometimes, but they were not bound to do so. We know by consensus that it was not the methodology of the Salaf to issue fatwas to the general people... Take, for example, a case related to an obligatory matter in the division of inheritance from the laws of inheritance, where he would say to so-and-so, "One-third," and to another, "One-quarter," and so on. By Allah, I admit that I myself am unable to understand the evidence for these details even today. How can the general Muslims be able to know the evidence for these details?! The practice of the Salaf was not based on this strictness that every fatwa from every mufti must be accompanied by the evidence, and that every person seeking a fatwa must demand the evidence for everything he asks about. This is what I wanted to draw attention to. But I see that we should pause for a moment because I find that our brothers have begun to be teased by sleep in their eyelids. So let us move on to other topics, especially since our companion has sweat appearing on his forehead... So a short break... meaning
Al-Huwaini: May Allah reward you with good. Can we pray 'Isha' during the break?

The Shaykh : That would be the best thing. Please, go ahead and give the adhan.