The Shaykh’s comment on the statement of some laypeople: “I asked Shaykh So-and-so and Shaykh So-and-so, and my heart found peace with the opinion of Shaykh So-and-so.”

Another questioner : Regarding the issue of seeking a fatwa, as you say, the ignorant person should ask the scholar. This ignorant person said: “I asked Scholar So-and-so and I asked Scholar So-and-so. Scholar So-and-so said such-and-such, and Scholar So-and-so said such-and-such, the opposite of what was said to you. By Allah, my heart found peace with Scholar So-and-so rather than Scholar So-and-so.”

The Shaykh : Yes, he asked, but he did not ask properly. He asked about the opinion of So-and-so and the opinion of So-and-so, and the two opinions contradicted each other, so he chose whichever pleased him. But he did not ask about the evidence of So-and-so or the evidence of So-and-so. He performed a comparison, and then, by Allah, he was lost between the two pieces of evidence. What is he to do? He has to go back and consult his heart. He should consult his heart, but he must fear Allah in his seeking of a fatwa and not follow his desires. So the important point regarding who asks is: what is your opinion, is it forbidden? What is your opinion, is it permissible? By Allah, this is a good opinion, it is permissible, it has ease, it has such-and-such. No, the question should not be like that. As long as there is disagreement in the issue, it is necessary to ask about the evidence. For every one who said what he said is forbidden, what is his evidence? And for the one who said it is permissible or there is no harm in it, what is his evidence?
After that, this person, even if he is an illiterate layman, does some kind of comparison and independent legal reasoning, and each person exerts effort according to what he has been given of intellect, knowledge, or ignorance, and so on. For Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear. If Allah knows from him that he feared Allah the Mighty and Majestic after asking well in the manner we mentioned, and if Allah the Mighty and Majestic knows from him that he was eager to know the ruling of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in what he asked about, and then the matter became difficult for him and he was unable to perform a comparison between the two opinions, and he feared Allah and said, “My soul is at peace with such-and-such,” there is no harm in that. Because this is, as they say, the last resort is cauterization; he has no way out except this. But what often happens, which we hear on the radio here in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, is that a person says, “By Allah, my heart found peace with this opinion,” and he acts upon it. Or, as we mentioned earlier, he asks So-and-so, “What is your opinion?” and So-and-so, “What is your opinion?” This person did not ask about the knowledge; he asked about the opinion. And here, opinions often contradict each other.
A few days ago, I stopped a car on the side of the road to go to the town for a need of mine, without wheels. I got into a taxi, and the radio was on. I said, “Please turn it off,” so he turned it off. It seems he thought I was a religious man, and perhaps he thought that because of this gray hair, I have some knowledge. He asked me whether blood coming out breaks the ablution or not. I said to him, “No.” He said, “This is the school of Abu Hanifah.” I said to him, “No, on the contrary, this is the school of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him).” And I continued the conversation, as they say, I did not find any joking, we wanted to cover the distance. I said to him, “It is not permissible for a scholar, when asked about an issue, to tell the questioner, ‘The answer is such-and-such according to the school of Abu Hanifah’ or ‘according to the school of al-Shafi'i,’ because this will confuse this layman orThe questioner : between these schools of jurisprudence, and he does not have the ability to perform a comparison between them. But the true scholar presents to you the answer established in the Sunnah. So when you want to follow the Shari'ah, you must be assured that this Shari'ah came through the way of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and not through the way of the imams. Do you have an opinion about the four imams? Who are they? What is their translation? What is such-and-such?
He said, “No, by Allah, but I hear about them that these imams came after the Messenger by about two centuries of time, and each one has his independent legal reasoning, and independent legal reasoning is subject to error and correctness. But error is far from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So if the ruling comes from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it is all correct; falsehood does not come to it from before it or from behind it. But as for the imams, they are independent legal reasonings, so some of them hit the mark and some of them erred. And whoever hit the mark has two rewards, and whoever erred has one reward.” We talked like this until we reached our destination and we got out.
So the point today is that the calamity of the Muslim scholar is that there is no Islamic awareness as was the case in the early period. That is, now people do not distinguish between the religion, for example, and Islam, excuse me, between the religion and the school of jurisprudence, or between Islam and the school of jurisprudence. They do not distinguish between them, so they imagine that the school of jurisprudence is Islam, it is the religion. And one of the effects of not making this distinction is that you come across questions you hear on the radio: “The opinion of Islam regarding such-and-such, such-and-such, the opinion of Islam.” Islam has a ruling, it does not have an opinion. But they are not living in the rulings of Islam; they are living in the opinions of the scholars. And therefore, even the expression has changed to express their reality, to say “the opinion of Islam is such-and-such,” meaning the opinion of some Muslim scholars. As for Islam, it has a ruling, it has a definitive judgment; falsehood does not come to it from before it or from behind it. If Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, there is no choice here at all. This is the ruling of Allah. But people are far from the rulings of Allah, the Book and the Sunnah, and they are living in the opinions of the scholars.
And one of the effects of that is that they hold a seminar for you, and two or three doctors attend who have not studied the Shari'ah from the Book of Allah and from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They decide the prevailing opinion in a certain issue. I tell you, “This is the opinion of the jurists, and the issue is disputed among them. There are great jurists who said the opposite of what is attributed to the jurists.” The intention is to smooth out this practical matter by relying on an opinion said by some jurists. So they say and declare, “This is the opinion of the jurists,” as if it is a consensus, and it is not a matter of consensus. That is, these are very serious, deviant matters, the cause of which is that among the Muslims today, there are very few who know the reality of the religion and what Islam is. As Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said, and I am saying this, you will not be able to hear it from a radio in some Arab countries, or in most Arab countries. What did Ibn al-Qayyim say? Words of truth:
"Knowledge, Allah said, His Messenger said... the Companions said, it is not deception.
Knowledge is not setting you up for foolish disagreement... Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist
Nor is it denying the attributes and negating them... Out of fear of negation and likening"
Knowledge is: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said. Today, you hear any fatwa and you do not find it accompanied by “Allah said” or “the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said” at all.