Correcting a Scholar for a Shortcoming

Question

If a scholar of religion (‘alim), in practice, has shortcomings in the obligatory acts and conditions of wudu, and in the conditions of prayer [and] the obligatory acts of prayer, should he, by virtue of being a scholar, not be corrected, since he is the one who knows best of all? Or is there a risk that, in matters contrary to the Shari‘a, [correcting him] would be an instance of the saying “to treat the mistake of the great as a mistake is itself a mistake”?

Answer

If some statement appears to a person to contradict his own knowledge, giving rise to a doubt — either that this respected scholar is mistaken, or that his own knowledge is incorrect — then one should inquire of the scholar himself: “Such-and-such a person has stated this ruling — is it correct or incorrect?

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.