The Shaykh Al-Albani’s statement regarding those who are bold in issuing fatwas and dividing people into scholars and non-scholars.

Abu Malik: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, the Trustworthy One, and upon his family and all his Companions. Our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you and bless you in your life, prolong it in obedience to Him, and make you a means of connection to good, from Him and to Him, so that you may always and forever be the lighthouse to which students of knowledge in this age turn, given what we have known of you and heard about you from the knowledge by which Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has honored you. Our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, in this age of ours, those who climb up to issue fatwa have become numerous, until fatwa has become a trivial commodity of no value in the eyes of many people. One of them hardly asks about an issue that, if 'Umar had been asked about it, he would have gathered the people of Badr and the people of the Tree of Pledge for it. But this fatwa, which was as you know and understand—and you are among the highest heads in this regard in this age—has become, unfortunately and sadly, as if it is sold in the market and bought and sold, with its increase and decrease depending on the questioner about this or that matter. So may Allah reward you with good and bless you. How much we need you to set for us landmarks that will serve as a guide for the student of knowledge or students of knowledge, landmarks for this fatwa: how to approach it and how students of knowledge in this age should deal with it. And may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : In my opinion, this issue has been repeated more than once, and it deserves to be repeated because of the boldness of many young people in the pursuit of knowledge in issuing fatwa. And as you know, I do not cite what is not established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but I may take comfort in some phrases that some narrators reported incorrectly and attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by mistake. This type of hadith is unfortunately common, but we must remember that it is divided into two categories: from this hadith that is not authentic, there is what is denunciated in both chain and meaning, and there is what is weak in chain but correct in meaning, where the meaning is taken from other evidence. However, even so, it does not justify the scholar to assert the authenticity of this second type of hadith, which is weak in chain but correct in meaning. Even so, it is not permissible to attribute it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but there is no harm in taking comfort in it. I return to emphasize that if its meaning is acceptable, with the clarification that its attribution to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not authentic. I want, with this brief introduction, to mention an example of this type of hadith that is witnessed by the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which is: "The boldest of you in issuing fatwa is the boldest of you in entering the Fire." This is a hadith that is weak in its chain, but its text is witnessed by the Book and the Sunnah and by the practice of the righteous Salaf. That is because you all know, if Allah wills, that the scholar from among the Companions of the Messenger—and I mean the scholar from among the Companions, not any Companion whatsoever—when a fatwa came to him, he would be hesitant about it and try to extricate himself from it by referring it to someone else, due to the difficulty of fatwa and the difficulty of bearing its responsibility in case he erred in it. The least thing established from them is that one of them, who was among the great scholars of the Companions, such as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), when asked about an issue, would answer and say, "This is my opinion. If I am right, it is from Allah, and if I am wrong, it is from myself." The important point is that the scholars of the righteous Salaf were hesitant to rush into issuing fatwas, and then they were cautious about issuing many, fearing the consequence of error, as I mentioned earlier. You must all, or at least some of you, have read in the biography of the Imam of the City of Migration, the Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that a man came from Khurasan with about forty questions in his hand, and he answered him about four questions, as I recall. The intermediary, or the messenger if that is the correct term, was surprised at the Imam of the City of Migration's brevity in answering only four out of forty questions. He said to him, "I came to you from Khurasan with these questions." He said, "Go back to them and tell them that this is what is with the Imam Malik, and he has no answer for the other questions." Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. This hesitation stems from the fear that the foot of the mufti may slip, that the foot of the mufti may slip, and that as a result, he may misguide with his steps tens, if not hundreds, if not thousands. And O, the glory of Allah! They knew truly the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) They knew that they are not held accountable by Allah if they exerted effort and erred, yet they were cautious. This is the beneficial knowledge; its effect appears in the scholar's actions, not only in his general dealings with people, but even in his fatwas. They were afraid, and therefore we know from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, divided people in terms of their knowledge and effort into two categories, with no third: the first is the scholars, and the second is the non-scholars. I do not want to say "the ignorant"; I want to say a word that is broader than "the ignorant" and narrower than "the scholars," meaning everyone who is not a scholar falls within the generality of His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: There is no doubt that the non-scholars are divided into two categories: among them is the unlettered person who does not seek knowledge at all, and among them isThe student : the seeker of knowledge, butThe student : the seeker of knowledge is not a scholar; he is a student of knowledge. When does a person become a scholar? They also mention in the biography of the Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him and with his like among the mujtahid Imams) that he did not sit to teach until such-and-such scholars gave him permission. But today, with the scarcity of scholars, we see many beginners in the pursuit of knowledge being bold in issuing fatwa without asking the people of knowledge whether he has reached the rank of issuing fatwa or not. If he does not know the fact I mentioned earlier, derived from His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: The matter is as they say: history repeats itself. I do not say that this affliction which has spread and become widespread in this age and has spread among students of knowledge is unprecedented. I say, with regret, that it is unprecedented, but in a narrow and very narrow way. And that was by the decree of Allah and the wise, delicate destinies of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, so that the Khalaf would learn a lesson from the Salaf. I refer to this to the hadith of Jabir narrated in the Sunan of Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him), that a man was wounded in some of the battles and became one who experiences nocturnal emission, knowing that as long as he experiences it, ghusl is obligatory upon him, but it was difficult for him to perform ghusl and his body was afflicted with wounds. So he asked those around him, and here is the point: they said to him, "You must perform ghusl." So he performed ghusl and died. A fatwa from an ignorant person who had not reached the rank of issuing fatwa and the rank of the great scholars of the Companions.