Continuation of the Shaykh's words on clarifying who has the right to prefer one opinion over another in general matters.

The Shaykh : If they bring up an example like this, there is no doubt that some hadith scholars will weaken the second hadith. So he will be perplexed as to how he can hold to a hadith that says: he performs wudu, and a hadith that says: he does not perform wudu. Either he must perform a process of filtering and rest by discarding one of the two hadiths, if there is room for that from the hadith perspective; otherwise, he must move from the hadith domain to the fiqh domain to reconcile the two hadiths. And this undoubtedly requires knowledge of the scientific principles of usul al-fiqh.
So if the student of knowledge is at this level, the answer is that 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: , 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 ground, no intermediate 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. It is like that.
So if the students of knowledge reach the rank of being scholars, then they have become scholars and are not in need of asking the people of knowledge. Otherwise, they are included among the general public, upon whom it is obligatory to ask the people of knowledge.
So whoever finds in himself this scientific capacity—let us say, for now, his knowledge of the Arabic language, his knowledge of the principles of hadith and the critique and vindication of narrators, and his knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence—and he has spent a period of time testing himself in deriving rulings and presenting them against the opinions of the scholars he has studied, who disagreed on many of the issues—this person is not required to ask the people of knowledge. But if he is not like that, then we believe the saying of those who said that it is necessary to refer to the people of knowledge.
But this does not diminish the value of following. We must know that there are three ranks regarding this community that our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, divided into two groups in terms of knowledge and ignorance, as mentioned earlier. There is an intermediate rank. Most people are followers of taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence). "Forbidden, forbidden, lawful, lawful"—this is taqlid.
And this is what we warn the Muslim community against falling into, because it is obligatory for them to proceed in their worship of their Lord with clarity regarding their religion, as He, the Exalted, said: .
So the followers of taqlid are certainly not on clarity. But the followers (mutaba'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)—it is not permissible for anyone to contradict it—or that it is opinion and ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), and opinion and ijtihad are subject to error and correctness.
This is only done by a few of the majority of Muslims, and they are those whom we call the followers (mutaba'in). So it is not necessary for these people to become scholars, but I do not say it is not necessary; rather, it is not permissible for them to remain in the rank of the followers of taqlid.
So there is an intermediate rank: they are not scholars, nor are they followers of taqlid, but they are discerning and follow the scholars with clarity regarding their religion. This is the opinion. And this session is sufficient for us now. May we see you again after your return from 'Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage), if Allah wills. May your 'Umrah be accepted...