Is it obligatory for a student of knowledge who has reached the level of following to consult scholars in every issue that arises for him now from among the issues that the scholars have investigated?

The questioner : Is it obligatory for a student of knowledge who has reached the rank of following to consult scholars in every issue that arises for him from among the issues that the living and deceased scholars have investigated, knowing that he can investigate and establish the truth in many issues by relying on the books of the scholars that are at his disposal? This is because one of the actions of the innovator, as al-Shatibi mentioned, is preferring one opinion of the scholars over another by any of the methods of preference, and there are many such methods. So we ask for clarification of this issue, because some of the students among us oblige us to refer every issue that we have preferred and whose evidence we know to a living scholar, in order to fulfill His saying, the Exalted: , and on the grounds that you may have misunderstood that scholar... so you need someone to correct this understanding for you. We ask for clarification and elaboration in the answer to this question, because we see in this statement a clear call to taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), which... has persisted for a long time, may Allah prolong your lives, until the establishment of the state of Islam. And it is established and documented that asking scholars is done when one lacks knowledge or is ignorant of the ruling of an issue, and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established this in the authentic hadith narrated by Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) in the story of the man who was struck by a stone and his head was gashed. And may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : ... that this issue has a degree of subtlety; and the theoretical answer is clear, but judging whether people have reached the level where they are independent of referring to the scholars, or have not reached it, is a difficult matter except through association and direct speech, investigation, and discussion with these students of knowledge.
It is not hidden from all those present, if Allah wills, that the one who wants to prefer one opinion of the scholars over another in a single issue must, without doubt, be proficient in two fundamental sciences after being an Arab; either a native or one who has become Arabized and knows the Arabic language as its people know it. After this knowledge of the Arabic language in one of the two ways mentioned, he must be knowledgeable about the methods of authenticating and weakening hadiths, and then he must be knowledgeable about the principles of hadith jurisprudence, by which he is able to reconcile different texts that appear to contradict each other. For example, a student of knowledge may encounter an investigation of an issue where each of the two differing parties has a hadith, and the apparent meaning of these hadiths is contradiction. Here, above all else, he must study these pieces of evidence in terms of their authenticity; are they established or not? If he conducts this investigation and it becomes clear to him that some are authentic and some are not, he performs the process of filtering. By performing this process, he may not need to perform another process, which he cannot perform unless he himself is proficient in the other science, namely the science of the principles of hadith.
On this occasion, it is fitting for me to mention, because occasions may be missed, this person you know, "Hassan al-Saqaf," contacted me more than once. The last time, he asked me what we say about the disagreement of the imams? Does this disagreement mean that you approve of it or you deny it? I mentioned to him that disagreement is of two types: disagreement of variety and disagreement of contradiction. If it is of the first type, we approve of it. He said: What is an example? We said: This is an example: the supplications of opening the prayer, the types of tashahhud, and the Ibrahimic prayer. And if it is disagreement of contradiction, we believe that the truth is one, and that what contradicts it is a clear error. I mentioned to him the verse, He said, the Exalted: . He tried to find a loophole to reach a goal that is not hidden here; so I understood his intention. I said to him: What is your opinion? What do you think? He said: If the disagreement is with each of the two differing parties according to the reality of the hadith, we approve of this disagreement. So I understood that he wants not to distinguish between disagreement of variety and disagreement of contradiction.

The questioner : ... the calamity.

The Shaykh : Yes. I said: So what do you say about the hadith—and here is the point as an example of what we are discussing—what do you say about...? ... I said to him: Okay; do you act upon it? He said: Yes. I said to him: What do you say about the hadith: ? Is it authentic? He started to evade; he said some people authenticate it and some people weaken it. I said: Why the evasion? He said: I did not evade. I said: Yes, when I asked you about the first hadith, you said: Authentic. And when I asked you about the other, you started to doubt, saying some people authenticated it. I am asking you, what do you say about this hadith? I know the disagreement, but what is your opinion, is it authentic or weak? He had no choice but to admit its authenticity, and here he fell. I said: Do you act upon it? He said: No. I said: Are you going to blame Imam Abu Hanifa who says that it is permissible, that the wudu' is valid and there is nothing wrong with it, and he does not take the first hadith: .

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes.
And then I continued with him in some advice, but of the heavy kind. I said: Therefore, I do not wish to meet with you, because it does not appear to me that you want the truth in reality. And so I said: Peace be upon you, if Allah wills. I said: If Allah wills. After a short while, the man returned and said: You have revealed a shubhah (a doubtful matter) that I had, so I want to ask you another question. I said: I have no inclination, because the shubhah that I revealed is still standing with you as it was!
The point is: if such an example comes to him, without doubt he will find some hadith scholars weakening the hadith, so he will be perplexed; how can he take a hadith that says: let him perform wudu', and a hadith that says: he does not perform wudu'? Either he performs the process of filtering and rests from one of the two hadiths if there is a possibility from the hadith perspective, or he must move from the hadith field to the fiqh field to reconcile the two hadiths; and this undoubtedly requires knowledge of the scientific and principled rules.
So if the student of knowledge is of this caliber, the answer is: it is not obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge; because we say in many of our answers and lectures that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in His saying, the Exalted: , has divided the Muslim community into two groups: a group for whom asking is obligatory, and a group for whom answering is obligatory. There is no middle solution, no middle rank; either they are people of knowledge, in which case they must answer, or they are not people of knowledge, in which case they must ask those people, like this. So if the students of knowledge reach the rank where they are scholars, then they have become scholars and are not in need of asking the scholars; otherwise, they are included among the general public who must ask the scholars. So whoever finds in himself this scientific capacity to transfer now: their knowledge of the Arabic language, his knowledge of the principles of hadith and al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators), his knowledge of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence), and he has spent a portion of time testing himself in deriving rulings, presenting them to what he has studied of the opinions of the scholars who differed in many issues; then it is not obligatory for him to ask the scholars. But if he is not so, then we believe the saying of those who said that it is necessary to refer to the scholars. But this does not diminish anything of the value of following; we must know that there are three ranks regarding this community that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) made, in terms of knowledge of the science and ignorance of it, into two groups as we mentioned earlier, and there is a middle rank.
Most people are followers of taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence); they say, "Forbidden, forbidden; permissible, permissible." This is taqlid, and it is what we warn the Muslim community against falling into. This is because it is obligatory for him to proceed in his worship of his Lord with clarity regarding his religion, as He, the Exalted, said: . Therefore, those who practice taqlid are certainly not on clarity. However, the followers (muttabi'in), whose habit is to know that the statement of this scholar or that one is derived from evidence from the Book of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which no one is permitted to contradict, or is an opinion and independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), and opinion and ijtihad are subject to error and correctness. This is only done by a few among the majority of Muslims, and they are those whom we call the followers (muttabi'in). It is not necessary for these people to become scholars, but I do not say that it is not necessary; rather, it is not permissible for them to remain in the ranks of those who practice taqlid. There is an intermediate rank where they are neither scholars nor those who practice taqlid, but rather they are discerning followers of the scholars with clarity regarding their religion.
This is the opinion, and this session is sufficient for us now. May we see you again when you return from your 'Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage), and may your 'Umrah be accepted, if Allah wills.