Should scholars give fatwas based on minority opinions if it makes life easier?

[Shaykh Akram] You know the first thing we have to understand is how this religion is. This religion basically is Usul. Usul means fundamentals. Iman, Taqwa, piety, fear of Allah The prayer is Khushu`. {Arabic} Fear of Allah means turning to Him. These are actually the Usul of the Religion. When you pray, what actually matters is Usul and Qunut. {Arabic} He (Allah) does not say whether you should pray Hanafi Madhhab, Maliki Madhhab or Shafi`i Madhhab The Usul are the main things. All the Prophets and Messengers have been teaching the Usul.

To attend to those Usul, you need some practices that we call Furu` Kubra - major branches like the prayer, fasting, Zakat and Hajj. They are means to attain those Usul. How you get Taqwa and Sabr? By these things. Sabr & Taqwa are Usul, but fasting is from Furu` Kubra. All of these (major branches) are from Quran. Then you have minor branches.

Minor branches are like Wudu' and things similar like that. They are minor branches. Usul and major Furu` are in the Quran. For minor branches, some of them are in the Quran, some of them are in the Sunnah and some of them are known by Ijma` (by consensus). Some of them are known by Qiyas (analogy) of the Fuqaha'. This one is really very minor. It is so minor that the Prophet (saw) has said that when a Hakim (judge) or a Mujtahid makes an effort to find a ruling, if he's right, he gets double reward. If he's wrong, he still gets one reward. This is so insignificant that even if you're wrong you get reward. Same for those who follow them, if they're right,

they get double reward. If they're not right, they still get one reward. But for the major branches, for Usul, if you do mistake it can be Shirk or Kufr. It is harmful. But for minor branches they are so insignificant, if you're right, you get double reward. If you're wrong, you still get reward. There is no significance. This is where the Fuqaha' differ. When the Fuqaha' make rulings about these matters, their rulings are different types. Some rulings are right because of their understanding of the Quran & Sunnah.

Some rulings will just be temporary solutions to problems of that time. If the time changes, if the context, changes then they themselves will change. Sometimes Abu Hanifah changes his opinion because of time. Sometimes Imam Shafi`i changes his opinion because of space. When he moves from Baghdad to Egypt, he changes himself. These things keep changing. So similarly, in our time, it could be possible that people have a problem and generally the Fuqaha's opinion of their own time, it does not help people so much. But we find that a Fatwa from somebody who's opinion is more helpful for the people/society. So there is no harm in that Imam Sufayan Thawri used to say "Fiqh is not to say "It is Haram". Fiqh is to find solutions for the Believers"

So any opinion which can make something easier, that actually is one of the valid things in Islam. When people give Fatwa, there are two ways to look at an issue. One is from the argument. If something has a stronger argument, you go for that. But the other way for the Fuqaha' has been what is more easier for the people. Easy thing in the Furud is very important. And the Prophet himself has encouraged and the Fuqaha' call it Umum Balwah and things like that to make it easier. In our time, I'll give an example Like in Hanafi Madhhab it is generally understood that you do not wipe over cotton socks.

But there are Fuqaha, who have allowed wiping over cotton socks. Actually from Abu Hanifah, there is a narration from him and some other people have been doing it too. Now I see in Oxford, I've been seeing really that the places (restrooms) are not meant for washing your feet. If you give fatwa for the people that they can wipe over the socks, so that they put on the socks in the morning, after bath or after Wudu` and then they come to the office or the class room and when they need to do Wudu`, they wash everything and for the feet they just wipe. It makes life so easy for them.

So even if this opinion has been a minor opinion but it is so helpful now that you give a Fatwa for that. Like combining between two prayers for traveling, it makes life so easy for many people. So you give Fatwa. So in these minor issues, there is no harm in finding an opinion Which can be easier, which can help the Believers make their life easier Actually if they're not even minor opinions, somebody does his Ijtihad and differs from the rest of the Ummah.

It is still fine. He did make an effort. If he is right, he'll get double reward and if he's wrong, he still gets a reward. He doesn't necessarily need to follow one of the previous Imams. Like Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Malik, sometimes they have opinion that would differ from everybody because their opinion was a better solution. In our time, it still can be the same for some issues where a Faqih can think that "No, in this matter, the opinion that was held in the past is not helpful so I can find another opinion which will be more helpful for the Believers and I have a better argument for that.

There is no harm in that. The people don't necessarily need to follow someone if they really can do Ijtihad properly and it can help the Believers then there is no harm in that. And we have got examples for that from the Qur'an and Sunnah. If they are right, they get double reward and if they are wrong, they still get reward. [Mufti Abu Layth] On this topic of following...