Explaining the meaning of ijtihad and identifying who is qualified for it.

The Shaykh : Considering that this is the first time we have been honored by your presence in this place.
Ijtihad, my brother, has its conditions. Ijtihad is most akin to mastering the scientific methods by which rulings of the Shari'ah are derived, and then practicing them in reality in the scholar's academic life. Today, these muftis who rush to issue fatwas... you do not find in them, first of all, a man who has spent a portion of his long, blessed life studying the Book and the Sunnah and applying the means we mentioned to the reality of Muslims' lives today. I mean, this is like any science a student studies theoretically; what do you imagine? Can he succeed immediately if he begins applying these scientific theories in practice, or does he need practice and a long time? Then, without a doubt, he may err... and so on. And we know this in our professional lives that I told you about. I am the son of my hours; my father (may Allah have mercy on him) would sometimes, of course, unscrew the clock with the fine, delicate screwdriver, the screwdriver would slip... and he would go to earn... even though he had been doing it for a long time, but... a person errs. But if my father erred once or twice in his life, whereas the one who studied this theoretically, as soon as he holds the screwdriver, he wants to start breaking things, let alone doing what? Repairing. This is how the knowledge of the Shari'ah and the knowledge of its evidence is: if the student of knowledge or the scholar does not practice it practically, he does not master ijtihad and he does not master issuing fatwas, and his fatwas will be superficial and formal...
Therefore, in my opinion now, and I had directed this question while I had not gathered my thoughts... the first, the second, and the third, but the one who wants to issue fatwas to people needs a moment of leisure, and a moment, as it is said, of divine inspiration from Allah upon His servant, gathering his thoughts on this issue, and fearing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) so that he does not issue a ruling of permissibility or impermissibility except after what? Exerting effort. And so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No; he placed the condition ; what does "he exerted effort" mean? That is: he exerted his effort to know the truth in the issue in which he is about to act... Do you see the one who did not dedicate his whole life to specializing in the Book of Allah and studying the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), this hadith which numbers in the thousands and thousands, first of all, then he is unable to distinguish the authentic from the weak from... he is not able... and if he issues a fatwa and some people get entangled in his fatwa, then his sin is upon himself.


The questioner : ... Professor, I said in the hadith: , so if we said... a disbeliever...

The Shaykh : Of course... not casually with this wording, because the hadith has two narrations: , and the second narration is: ; because the deceased has this sanctity... whereas the disbeliever does not have this sanctity, even if... just as he (peace and blessings be upon him), when he passed by the slain polytheists, ordered them to be buried, and this is a health aspect before it is a religious one.

The questioner : It is possible, I mean, that the disbeliever removes...

The Shaykh : Yes, it is possible, why not? ...