Should a Layperson Listen to an Unknown Scholar?
Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan
Question: Assalam alaykum,
We often have scholars of different backgrounds visiting our community.
How should a layperson deal with this in order to get confused or misguided?
Answer: Wa alaykum al-Salam
May Allah reward for your question and concern.
You are very right in that one should be extremely careful where he or she receives Islamic Education. The layperson is required to consult traditional scholars whom they trust prior to receiving guidance and education from a scholar whose background is unknown.
Ibn Sirin, the famous successor and student of Anas ibn Malik, gave these guidelines almost fourteen hundred years ago when he said, “Indeed this matter is from Religion and be careful from whom you take your Religion”.
In the current world that we living in, many ideologies may seem attractive, however, we have noticed that methodologies that are not governed by the Quran, Sunnah and the way of the great scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah often leads to destruction. The various acts of terrorism and the large number of executions taking place in the middle east bares ample testimony to this.
The way of Ahl al-Sunnah has been preserved in the teachings of the four famous schools of jurisprudence; the doctrine documented by the scholars of the ‘Ash’ari and Maturidi schools; and the spiritual paths based on the way of Junayd al-Baghdadi.
Thank you for your question. May Allah bless and accept.
Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan
Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.
