Regarding Ijtihad and Formal Legal Rulings

Question :

Is the door to Ijtihad in formulating Islamic rulings considered to be open to every person, or are there certain conditions which must be fulfilled by the Mujtahid? And is it permissible for any person to rule according to his opinion, without knowledge of any clear evidence. And what is the grade of the Hadith which says:

"I warn you against delivering legal rulings as I warn you against the Fire.

or what carries the same meaning.

Answer:

The door of performing Ijtihad in order to recognize the legal Islamic rulings remains open for those who are qualified to do it. They must have knowledge of Qur'anic Verses and Hadiths and be able to understand them, and to use them as evidence as required on the questions in which they are exercising Ijtihad. He must possess knowledge to the extent that he is able to cite relevant Hadiths on which there is consensus in all questions, so that they do not depart from the consensus of the Muslims (i.e. the scholars) in their judgements. They must have sufficient knowledge of Arabic language to allow them to understand the texts (of the Qur'an and Sunnah) and to derive and extract the proofs from them and then speak or deliver the ruling according to their convictions and what satisfies them in religion.

As for the Hadith:
"I warn you against delivering legal rulings as I warn you against the Fire.

- it was narrated by Al-Hafiz 'Abdullah bin 'Abdur-Rahman Ad-Darimi in his Sunan, from 'Ubaidullah bin Abi Ja'far Al- Misri in Mursal form. And may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet, Muhammad and upon his family and Companions.

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