[1] Circumstances in Which a Fatwa Issuer May or May Not Be Sinful for an Erroneous Fatwa

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Questioner as Imam Muhammad Ibn Salih al-Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy upon him: : If a person issues a Fatwa to someone, then this Mufti goes away. After some time, this Mufti reviews the statements of the people of knowledge (scholars) and finds that his Fatwa was a mistake, what should he do? Is he sinful for that?

The Shakh responded: If the first Fatwa was based on Ijtihad and he is worthy of performing Ijtihad, then after research and discussion, it became clear to him that his first Ijtihad was wrong; then, indeed, there is no blame upon him. Indeed, the senior Imams used to do what is similar to this. You find that one among them held several different opinions on an issue.

As for if his first ruling was given without knowledge and other than (justified) Ijtihad, but he based it on Dhan (conjecture, assumption)—for some assumptions are sins; then indeed it prohibited initially for him to give a Fatwa based on mere conjecture (assumption) or guessing. For indeed, if he did that, he spoken about Allah without knowledge, and speaking about Allah without knowledge is among the gravest of sins due to the saying of Allah, The Most High:

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 تَعْلَمُونَ

Say (O Muhammad): “(But) the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are Al-Fawahish (great evil sins, every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allah for which He has given no authority, and saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge.” [al-A’raf 33]

It is incumbent upon him to look for the person who asked him to give him a Fatwa, so as to inform him that his Fatwa was a mistake and an error (in that specific situation, circumstance, subject matter). If he does this, then I hope that Allah will accept his repentance.

The issue regarding Fatwa without knowledge is dangerous because indeed not only the person who is given the Fatwa would be misguided, rather, may be the one given the Fatwa spreads it among the people, thus misguiding groups of people through it, while it is it is a mistake and misguidance. [Paraphrased]

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