Dealing with difference of opinion among scholars


Question :

What is the response to the student of knowledge that says to the people as advise on issues of disagreement or difference of opinion “do what you see to be the closest thing to taqwa” ?

Answer :

The shaykh hafidahullah said that that which is best or that which is correct to say is that, that you work or act in correspondence to the evidences, as for the ikhtilaaf which are in opposition to one another meaning that they are in the affairs of aqeedah and there is no way of matching them then this it’s a must that the person seeks the haqq in detail and that he does not have any easiness with it either that he takes an option or not rather it’s a must that he seeks the truth properly, as for the masaail of fiqh here which the khilaaf is waasi’ (wider), every aalim has his daleel due to his ijtihaad these types of masaail also he follows a daleel and it not an issue where an incar (refutation) is to be taken where the one is to be blamed for. He follows a particular qawl due to the evidence he sees strong in there then it’s not to be blameworthy, as for the masaail of aqeedah then this is the area where if the person errs he is blameworthy and he could even leave the fold of the sunnah.

Answered by : Shaykh Abu Ishaaq Al Qaisee