Asking a Non-Scholar About Religious Matters

Question

What is the ruling on asking religious matters of a person who is not an ‘alim (scholar)?

Answer

If he states religious rulings according to his own opinion, then asking him is providing oneself the means for going astray. And if he speaks after looking into a book, but is unable to distinguish the reliable from the unreliable, then in the rulings he states there will be no way to distinguish the correct from the incorrect.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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