Is what is known from the religion by necessity a matter for independent legal reasoning?

Question: Some students of knowledge reach, through their independent legal reasoning, a contradiction of a command that is known from the religion by necessity. Is what is known from the religion by necessity a matter for independent legal reasoning? We seek your guidance, Your Eminence, and your attention to this matter.

Answer: Everything that is known in the religion through clear evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, or through the consensus of the Salaf of the Ummah, leaves no room for independent legal reasoning (ijtihad); rather, it is obligatory to believe in it, act upon it, and reject whatever contradicts it by the consensus of the Muslims. There is no disagreement among scholars regarding this great principle. Independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) is only for matters of scholarly disagreement whose evidence from the Book and the Sunnah has not become clear. So whoever is correct receives two rewards, and whoever is wrong receives one reward, provided he is among the scholars qualified for independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and has exerted his utmost effort in seeking the truth with sincerity and devotion to Allah . In the two Sahihs, it is narrated from 'Amr ibn al-'As from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: .