What is the ruling on being expansive in issuing fatwas and adhering to blocking the means to harm?
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Question:
Your Eminence, the Shaykh, please inform us, may Allah reward you. It is known that our religion is moderate, but there is excess in some matters. Does this mean being expansive in issuing fatwas, or adhering to blocking the means to harm, or being expansive in issuing fatwas and restricting oneself to the texts?
Answer:
This is a great station, a station of...; so it is obligatory not to be expansive in issuing fatwas. It is obligatory for the believer to fear Allah and watch Him, and not to issue a fatwa except with insight and based on a text he has known. If there is no text, then independent legal reasoning is necessary in cases of dire necessity, and seeking the truth if one is qualified. If he has knowledge of the texts from the Book and the Sunnah and the legal principles, then he must seek the truth in cases of dire necessity and exert himself in issuing fatwas in cases of dire necessity. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would pass the fatwa among themselves out of their eagerness for safety and their caution regarding the danger of issuing fatwas.
So the believer should not be eager to issue fatwas, nor hasty in issuing them. And if he sees someone better than himself, he should refer to him; because he is closer to the correct ruling than he is, as the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them and grant them satisfaction) did. The mufti should not be expansive in issuing fatwas, and should strive to seek the truth with evidence, and issue fatwas according to the requirement of the evidence to the extent of his ability and possibility; to guide the Muslim community and clarify the truth. And if there is a difficulty in the matter, he should suspend judgment and not issue a fatwa until he investigates the matter and the correct path becomes clear to him. Even if he is among the most knowledgeable of people; the Companions were the most knowledgeable of people after the prophets, and they would suspend judgment in many matters and refer some of them to others; out of caution regarding the danger of issuing fatwas. And so did the imams after them, (may Allah be pleased with them and have mercy on them).
Your Eminence, the Shaykh, please inform us, may Allah reward you. It is known that our religion is moderate, but there is excess in some matters. Does this mean being expansive in issuing fatwas, or adhering to blocking the means to harm, or being expansive in issuing fatwas and restricting oneself to the texts?
Answer:
This is a great station, a station of...; so it is obligatory not to be expansive in issuing fatwas. It is obligatory for the believer to fear Allah and watch Him, and not to issue a fatwa except with insight and based on a text he has known. If there is no text, then independent legal reasoning is necessary in cases of dire necessity, and seeking the truth if one is qualified. If he has knowledge of the texts from the Book and the Sunnah and the legal principles, then he must seek the truth in cases of dire necessity and exert himself in issuing fatwas in cases of dire necessity. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would pass the fatwa among themselves out of their eagerness for safety and their caution regarding the danger of issuing fatwas.
So the believer should not be eager to issue fatwas, nor hasty in issuing them. And if he sees someone better than himself, he should refer to him; because he is closer to the correct ruling than he is, as the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them and grant them satisfaction) did. The mufti should not be expansive in issuing fatwas, and should strive to seek the truth with evidence, and issue fatwas according to the requirement of the evidence to the extent of his ability and possibility; to guide the Muslim community and clarify the truth. And if there is a difficulty in the matter, he should suspend judgment and not issue a fatwa until he investigates the matter and the correct path becomes clear to him. Even if he is among the most knowledgeable of people; the Companions were the most knowledgeable of people after the prophets, and they would suspend judgment in many matters and refer some of them to others; out of caution regarding the danger of issuing fatwas. And so did the imams after them, (may Allah be pleased with them and have mercy on them).
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.