What is the ruling on the action of one who conveys a fatwa of a scholar without attributing it to that scholar, thereby giving the impression that the fatwa is his own?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, if I heard from you an answer to a specific question, and one of the people asked me about this question, and I answered based on your answer or the answer of one of the Shaykhs, since I do not have sufficient knowledge, is there a sin on me?
The Shaykh : We hope that there is no sin on you, but you have not done well. Rather, you should say, "I heard so-and-so say such and such." Because here, some harms may result from where the transmitter does not intend. First, the harm may return to him, and this is a reality today, unfortunately. If you hear a fatwa from Zayd, a fatwa from 'Amr, and a fatwa from Ahmad, and so on, and whenever you are asked about such a fatwa, you answer with it without attributing it to its speaker, those who ask you assume, or more precisely, you make them assume, that you are a scholar. This is a harm that returns to you. Then the circle of harm may expand, as the transmitter also conveys it to another, and so on. This increases the application of the prophecy foretold by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who said in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 100 Therefore, we see that one who is not a scholar but merely a transmitter must mention the source from which he transmitted.
The questioner : Shaykh, if he forgets the source from whom he heard, is it permissible if he says, "I heard from a Shaykh" or "I read in a book"?
The Shaykh : There is no objection if he forgot. But if he intentionally forgets, it is not permissible.
The questioner : So, for example.
The Shaykh : I will answer your question.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : We hope that there is no sin on you, but you have not done well. Rather, you should say, "I heard so-and-so say such and such." Because here, some harms may result from where the transmitter does not intend. First, the harm may return to him, and this is a reality today, unfortunately. If you hear a fatwa from Zayd, a fatwa from 'Amr, and a fatwa from Ahmad, and so on, and whenever you are asked about such a fatwa, you answer with it without attributing it to its speaker, those who ask you assume, or more precisely, you make them assume, that you are a scholar. This is a harm that returns to you. Then the circle of harm may expand, as the transmitter also conveys it to another, and so on. This increases the application of the prophecy foretold by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who said in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.
إن الله لا ينتزع العلم انتزعا من صدور العلماء و لكنه يقبض العلم بقبض العلماء حتى إذا لم يبق عالما اتخذ الناس رؤوسا جهالا فسئلوا فأفتوا بغير علم فضلوا و أضلواThe questioner : Shaykh, if he forgets the source from whom he heard, is it permissible if he says, "I heard from a Shaykh" or "I read in a book"?
The Shaykh : There is no objection if he forgot. But if he intentionally forgets, it is not permissible.
The questioner : So, for example.
The Shaykh : I will answer your question.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.