Advice from the Shaykh to those who put themselves forward for issuing fatwas, who are neither from the people of knowledge nor from the people of fatwa.

The Shaykh : And I also think it necessary to mention that today we are afflicted with the opposite of what we were afflicted with in the past centuries. In the previous centuries, we were afflicted by the rigidity of the scholars, let alone the students of knowledge, let alone the general public. We were afflicted by rigidity in following the madhhab (school of jurisprudence), and this rigidity persisted among the Muslims for many long centuries. Now, there is a blessed call to return to the Book and the Sunnah, and without a doubt, it has borne its fruit and its ripe produce. But now we complain of the opposite of what we used to complain of before. We used to complain of rigidity, but now we complain of recklessness. So, anyone who hears a word in the Book and the Sunnah, while he does not understand anything of the Book and the Sunnah—he only hears some phrases or some words from some callers to Allah, and they may be words of truth, or there may be some error in them—thinks that by this he has become a scholar and is permitted to say: "I see such and such," or "My opinion is such and such," or "I see this statement as erroneous." He intervenes in every big and small matter, and he is not even able to read a hadith properly. That rigidity and this recklessness both have their dangers. If the matter were to turn—this is my personal opinion—if the matter were to turn between following one of the four followed madhahib and being rigid in them, and every Muslim claiming knowledge and claiming ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), then without a doubt, sticking to what the fathers and grandfathers did, which is following the madhhab, and not giving weight to the opinions of the ignorant who have not studied knowledge, is better. This is in the category of: "O my son, some evil is less than some."
It is true that some of the wise or the literati from Iraq said a very beautiful word, but with a beautiful qualification. He said: "I prefer to exercise ijtihad and be wrong, rather than follow a scholar and be right." He said: "I only said 'I prefer' because error is not better than correctness; I prefer it, but it is not better." Because to exercise ijtihad and be right, then be wrong, is better than to follow a scholar and be right. Excuse me: I prefer it to following a scholar and being right. He said: "And I did not say 'better' because error is not better than correctness." Therefore, when we give advice, we must advise our brothers who share with us in the da'wah (calling others to Islam) and adopting the Book and the Sunnah not to be deceived by their own souls, and not to be deceived by some information they took from others, and may it have been through their personal study. For this opens a door for us regarding others that we are not able to refute; because the others argue against us that you allow those who do not know to speak. They say in Sham (Syria): "A thousand from al-Basatiliyyah." Al-Basatiliyyah is the long stick. And in some countries there, they say: "He who does not know the five from al-Tamsah." This is a defect, without a doubt, that is taken against the Salafi da'wah.
But, praise be to Allah, the Salafi da'wah does not approve of such personal opinions that come from people who are not from the students of knowledge, even if they were from the students of knowledge, but they have not yet matured in knowledge. Therefore, we propose to these people that they not give weight to their opinions and that they seek the help of the people of knowledge. Because the Noble Qur'an, as you know, divided the Muslims into two categories:
A scholar, and a non-scholar. And so it was in all previous eras, especially in the first century, the brightest century, which is the century of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his time. The people were of two categories: a scholar and a non-scholar. And this is what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) meant by His saying: .
Ibn al-Qayyim and others say that the scholars from among the Companions who used to issue fatwas barely reached the number of two hundred people, two hundred scholars. And the thousands upon thousands were not like that, as is the case today with millions—we say today, not thousands—due to the multitude of Muslims on the face of the earth, as Allah wills. Those who were the thousands upon thousands of Companions, each one did not give an opinion or express an opinion. Rather, they applied His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . And based on this verse, we must spread this truth among our Salafi youth and make them live by it, so that it is always before their eyes, forever. You are a scholar, a scholar who exercises ijtihad and understands the Book and the Sunnah. If you are not a scholar, it is not your duty to say, "I see such and such," or "I exercised ijtihad and I saw such and such," whether that is in authenticating a hadith, and he is not from the people of hadith, or in deriving a ruling, and he is not from the jurists. So, he must realize this verse: .
Because those who dare to issue fatwas while they are not from the people of knowledge and fatwa are like that man about whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) invoked that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) would destroy him, because he issued a fatwa that resulted in the destruction of an innocent Muslim soul. Do you know this hadith that Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent out a detachment. When they fought the disbelievers and spent the night, and morning came to them, one of them stood up having had a wet dream. He had many wounds on his body, so he asked those around him if they found a dispensation for him not to perform ghusl (the full ritual bath). They said: "You must perform ghusl." So he performed ghusl and died. When the news reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he invoked against them and said: . This hadith must always be before the eyes of the students of knowledge so that they do not dare to issue fatwas and be afflicted with what afflicted that man, about whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) invoked that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) would fight him.
And daring to issue fatwas; it seems from the previous speech that its harm returns first to the mufti (the one who issues the fatwa), and second to the one about whom the fatwa is issued. And when this meaning settles in the students of knowledge who have not reached the knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, and the tracking of the statements of the imams and the preference and weighing between them, but merely saying, "I see" and "I understood such and such," these people should rest their souls from the two calamities I mentioned first: that they themselves fall into error, and that they cause others to fall into error. And that is by asking the people of knowledge. And it is not a burden on them afterwards if the one who issued the fatwa erred or was right, because if he was right, that is good and excellent, and if he erred, then his sin is on the mufti. So, instead of bearing the sin himself because he issued a fatwa without knowledge and entangled the one he issued the fatwa for without knowledge, let him place the sin on another if he issued a fatwa without knowledge. And this does not mean that our youth should not be careful in their asking of the people of knowledge, that they distinguish between a scholar and a scholar, between one who claims knowledge and a true scholar, and between one who knows a madhhab and is ignorant of the Book and the Sunnah. This is another matter. So, the important thing is to ask one in whose knowledge and religion one has trust. Then he will not fall into the problem that fell upon the one who issued a fatwa that the man must perform ghusl, and due to his ignorance of the Sunnah, he did not issue a fatwa on the permissibility of tayammum (dry ablution with clean earth), because water would harm him, and indeed it harmed him, and it was the cause of his death. This is a word, and perhaps I have prolonged it. So, I ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make us successful in acting upon beneficial knowledge, and to make us know our own souls, and not to make us among those who are deceived by them, because arrogance is a destroyer after which there is no destroyer.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.