When scholars contradict

As Salamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I asked Khalifa bhai, { a brother in Islam, who is blessed with sound knowledge and understanding of deen}, that what shud be our stand when two scholars contradict . WHom shud we take. His answer was worth sharing here, with you all.

It was like this :

Islam is clear path in the sense that it tell us what should be our faith clearly without leavin any ambiguity with regard to Allah and His attribute.

Now, fact that there are some disputed issues in Islam does not make it ambiguous religion. Dispute arises just because Allah himself have not made something clear to us and He being all knowing did it deliberately. Intelligence is one of the great gift of Allah SW that He had given us and this is to be used in the matter of Deen as well as in acquiring worldly means. Islam encourages us to think and ponder upon issues instead of giving us complete and rigid solutions. Morever, when it comes to issues of jurisprudence, many of the issues are related to context and condition in which we live. So, giving a rigid solution would make more problems and sometime it would become impossible to follow the ruling in varying contexts.

So, it is flexiblity and ease that Allah SW has given us considering human weakness and considering the fact that Islam should be practiced in varying environment till doomsday.


Now, regarding the question that what is proof that if we follow a genuine scholar in disputed issue we will not be questioned.

This is how it goes.

1. It has be clear from Quran that we must obey Allah and His messenger.

2. But, obeying Allah and His messenger is subjected to knowledge a person acquire

3. Everybody cannot get same degree of knowledge because of the varying context in which they are born in and because of various degree of intelligence, memory and attitudes humans have.

4. Some of the people who specialized in Islamic knowledge by devoting their full time of Islam knowledge must be considered more knowledgeable subjected to their degree of intelligence and sincerity.

5. Thus practically it is not possible for a common person to acquire enough knowledge to form an opinion in disputed issues.

6. I am not willing to devote my time to prove a common person wrong if he insists that he has enough knowledge on a subject and can form an opinion based on his own knowledge and intelligence. He will be judged by Allah SW. If he is right he may get reward for it and if he wrong he is answerable to Allah SW. This is he who has to justify his act on the day of judgement.

7. Now, what if there is a dispute between scholars who has sound knowledge, wisdom and sincerity? Well, for a common person, he has to be sincere in obeying Allah and His messenger and should do his best to get most right opinion. If in this process he err or the scholars to whom he follows make mistake, the person cannot be responsible.

8. Proof! well it is simply established by the last verse in Surah Baqarah

On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."