What is your guidance regarding the haste in issuing fatwas to people?
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The questioner : In a previous episode, we heard a question about a person who performed 'Umrah, and a group of brothers issued him a fatwa, some saying he owes a fidyah, and another saying he must enter ihram from al-Tan'im. Some people are hasty in issuing fatwas; do you have a comment on this?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment:
Yes, we have a comment on this, and it is that it is forbidden for a person to rush into issuing a fatwa without knowledge, due to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[Al-A'raf 7:33] and the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: [Al-An'am 6:144] and the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Isra 17:36].
And this may fall under the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2951Da'if (Darussalam) and in the athar: .
The Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) would decline issuing fatwas, each referring the question to the other. But what appears to me is that this questioner was not issued a fatwa by any of the scholars, but rather it was the fatwa of gatherings of the common people, meaning each one of them said: I think you must do such and such, you must do such and such. And yet, we do not excuse him, because it is obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge who are qualified to issue fatwas.
But I warn the junior students who rush into issuing fatwas; you will find one of them knowing an evidence in a matter, and this evidence may be a general one that is specified, or an absolute one that is restricted, or abrogated and not decisive. So he rushes to issue a fatwa based on it without reviewing the rest of the evidence, and this is a pure error that leads to misleading the Muslims from their religion, and it causes confusion and difficulty even in what the scholars who issue fatwas based on knowledge say, because this issuing of fatwas without knowledge, which contradicts the truth, may be placed by Satan in their hearts in a position of acceptance, resulting in ambiguity and doubt in them.
Therefore, we say to our brothers: Beware of rushing into issuing fatwas, and thank your Lord that you are not required to say anything except based on knowledge or research in which you reach at least a preponderance of probability. How much harm has occurred in issuing fatwas without knowledge; perhaps it results in breaking a fast or making up a fast that is not obligatory, or perhaps it reaches a greater level, as many matters come to us in this regard, and Allah is the Helper.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment:
Yes, we have a comment on this, and it is that it is forbidden for a person to rush into issuing a fatwa without knowledge, due to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
Say, "My Lord has only forbidden immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed - and sin, and oppression without right, and that you associate with Allah that for which He has not sent down authority, and that you say about Allah that which you do not know."
قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَالإِثْمَ وَالْبَغْيَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَأَنْ تُشْرِكُوا بِاللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَانًا وَأَنْ تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَThen who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah to mislead the people by [something] other than knowledge? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people."
فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا لِيُضِلَّ النَّاسَ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَAnd do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.
وَلا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُوْلَئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًاAnd this may fall under the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
And whoever says (something) about the Qur'an according to his (own) opinion, then let him take his seat in the Fire.
من قال في القرآن برأيه فليتبوأ مقعده من النارThe boldest of you in issuing fatwas is the boldest of you in entering the Fire
أجرأكم على الفتية أجرأكم على النارThe Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) would decline issuing fatwas, each referring the question to the other. But what appears to me is that this questioner was not issued a fatwa by any of the scholars, but rather it was the fatwa of gatherings of the common people, meaning each one of them said: I think you must do such and such, you must do such and such. And yet, we do not excuse him, because it is obligatory for him to ask the people of knowledge who are qualified to issue fatwas.
But I warn the junior students who rush into issuing fatwas; you will find one of them knowing an evidence in a matter, and this evidence may be a general one that is specified, or an absolute one that is restricted, or abrogated and not decisive. So he rushes to issue a fatwa based on it without reviewing the rest of the evidence, and this is a pure error that leads to misleading the Muslims from their religion, and it causes confusion and difficulty even in what the scholars who issue fatwas based on knowledge say, because this issuing of fatwas without knowledge, which contradicts the truth, may be placed by Satan in their hearts in a position of acceptance, resulting in ambiguity and doubt in them.
Therefore, we say to our brothers: Beware of rushing into issuing fatwas, and thank your Lord that you are not required to say anything except based on knowledge or research in which you reach at least a preponderance of probability. How much harm has occurred in issuing fatwas without knowledge; perhaps it results in breaking a fast or making up a fast that is not obligatory, or perhaps it reaches a greater level, as many matters come to us in this regard, and Allah is the Helper.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.