There is a page for fatwas in the English newspapers, and it contains strange fatwas without knowledge. What is your comment? It is not known who the mufti is, among them is one who denied that Satan participates physically during intercourse.
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The questioner : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
There are many newspapers published in the English language that leave space for fatwas, and it is not known who the mufti is. All there is is that it is said: the editor-in-chief of the Islamic page. And you read astonishing things in these fatwas. Among the latest, when one of them was asked: Is there physical participation of Satan during intercourse? He denied it categorically with his mind, and said: This is from superstitions. Then also: He denied that Aisha’s (may Allah be pleased with her) age was this age at the time of her early marriage. Rather, he said: She did not know her age like others, and they did not know their ages in that time. And he stated that her age must have been between sixteen and eighteen. And you read within this fatwa many attempts to justify what the West distorts or raises as doubts regarding this topic. And indeed, they have multiplied and spread widely. So please, a kind word from the honorable Shaykh regarding these two matters specifically?
The Shaykh : I say: It is not permissible to rely on fatwas issued in newspapers, whether in Arabic or in other languages. Fatwas are also issued in Urdu and in English, as the brother said. So it is not obligatory to rely on fatwas issued in newspapers or magazines, whether in Arabic or other languages, unless we know that they were issued by a known scholar trusted in his knowledge and religion. Because, unfortunately, today those who are not qualified for it take the lead in issuing fatwas, saying without knowledge, rather merely according to their desires. And I do not say merely according to their minds, because the mind requires that matters be entrusted to their people. And who issues fatwas to the people?
[An-Nisa 4:176], the fatwa is from Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or from scholars trusted in their creed, in their knowledge, in their trustworthiness, who are known. Do not be negligent in your religion. Acting upon a fatwa means: a religion by which a person draws near to Allah. And if a person does not take medicine to treat himself with unless a skilled and trustworthy doctor prescribes it for him, how does he take a fatwa from a person he does not know who he is, and who may be deviant in his creed or in his behavior, or lost, having no knowledge at all, stumbling around.
So my advice to every believer who wants to preserve his religion and not take it except from one he trusts: Do not take any fatwa in newspapers or magazines, unless it is issued by a person trusted in his creed, in his knowledge, and in his religion.
And also: It is necessary that the one who presents fatwas in this newspaper or magazine must be known. Because sometimes fatwas are written attributed to Zayd or 'Amr from among the people, and he did not say them. But these journalists, when they see a scholar from among the scholars whom people follow and take his word, they smear him with any fatwa they issue. And this is also necessary. So: Two things are necessary:
Trust in the newspaper or magazine.
The second: Trust in the mufti, -we do not say: in the scholar, he may be ignorant- trust in the mufti such that he is from the scholars known in their creed, their knowledge, and their religion.
And we are not taking in fatwas in religious matters, buying and selling, leasing, and pledging, until we say: the one who is not suitable today is suitable tomorrow. We take a religion by which we are accountable to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), making it a path to Paradise, so we must know this. Therefore, it is obligatory that we preserve our religion, and not take it except from its people. And some of the Salaf said: "Indeed, this knowledge is religion, so look at whom you take your religion from", yes?
The questioner : What did he indicate regarding the story of Aisha?
The Shaykh : Everything he transmitted is wrong. Everything he transmitted from these fatwas is wrong. And Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is famous, if not mass-transmitted, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) married her while she was young.
And I told you now and I say it: These rationalists did not follow their minds either. The mind requires that we do not take fatwas except from one who is qualified for fatwa. And the fatwa is from Allah and His Messenger, it is not from just anyone.
There are many newspapers published in the English language that leave space for fatwas, and it is not known who the mufti is. All there is is that it is said: the editor-in-chief of the Islamic page. And you read astonishing things in these fatwas. Among the latest, when one of them was asked: Is there physical participation of Satan during intercourse? He denied it categorically with his mind, and said: This is from superstitions. Then also: He denied that Aisha’s (may Allah be pleased with her) age was this age at the time of her early marriage. Rather, he said: She did not know her age like others, and they did not know their ages in that time. And he stated that her age must have been between sixteen and eighteen. And you read within this fatwa many attempts to justify what the West distorts or raises as doubts regarding this topic. And indeed, they have multiplied and spread widely. So please, a kind word from the honorable Shaykh regarding these two matters specifically?
The Shaykh : I say: It is not permissible to rely on fatwas issued in newspapers, whether in Arabic or in other languages. Fatwas are also issued in Urdu and in English, as the brother said. So it is not obligatory to rely on fatwas issued in newspapers or magazines, whether in Arabic or other languages, unless we know that they were issued by a known scholar trusted in his knowledge and religion. Because, unfortunately, today those who are not qualified for it take the lead in issuing fatwas, saying without knowledge, rather merely according to their desires. And I do not say merely according to their minds, because the mind requires that matters be entrusted to their people. And who issues fatwas to the people?
They request from you a [legal] ruling. Say, "Allah gives you
يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ اللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْSo my advice to every believer who wants to preserve his religion and not take it except from one he trusts: Do not take any fatwa in newspapers or magazines, unless it is issued by a person trusted in his creed, in his knowledge, and in his religion.
And also: It is necessary that the one who presents fatwas in this newspaper or magazine must be known. Because sometimes fatwas are written attributed to Zayd or 'Amr from among the people, and he did not say them. But these journalists, when they see a scholar from among the scholars whom people follow and take his word, they smear him with any fatwa they issue. And this is also necessary. So: Two things are necessary:
Trust in the newspaper or magazine.
The second: Trust in the mufti, -we do not say: in the scholar, he may be ignorant- trust in the mufti such that he is from the scholars known in their creed, their knowledge, and their religion.
And we are not taking in fatwas in religious matters, buying and selling, leasing, and pledging, until we say: the one who is not suitable today is suitable tomorrow. We take a religion by which we are accountable to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), making it a path to Paradise, so we must know this. Therefore, it is obligatory that we preserve our religion, and not take it except from its people. And some of the Salaf said: "Indeed, this knowledge is religion, so look at whom you take your religion from", yes?
The questioner : What did he indicate regarding the story of Aisha?
The Shaykh : Everything he transmitted is wrong. Everything he transmitted from these fatwas is wrong. And Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is famous, if not mass-transmitted, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) married her while she was young.
And I told you now and I say it: These rationalists did not follow their minds either. The mind requires that we do not take fatwas except from one who is qualified for fatwa. And the fatwa is from Allah and His Messenger, it is not from just anyone.