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What we should do when the answers conflict

Question

When submitting a question and receiving replies from several sites-i.e. when the answers conflict how do we know which one (fatwa) is halal?Many thanks.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

If a common person finds different opinions in any matter, he can choose any of them as long as he does not intend to play with Shari'a or to choose the mistakes or what is convenient to him.
Imam al-Shawkani wrote in his book Irshad al-Fuhool: 'If a common man is confused in any rulings of Shari'a on the basis of the different opinions of the contemporary scholars, it is said that he can select any of them as reported from the majority of Shafi'e scholars and Sheik Abu Ishaq al-Sheerazi , al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi , Ibn al-Sabbagh , al-Qadi , al-Amidi and others supported this opinion. They say that the companions of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) agreed upon that acting according to a lesser opinion is permissible even though there is a superior opinion' . [P: 452]
It is also said that even a common person should spare no efforts to ask the most knowledgeable and most God Fearing person and to act according to his opinion.
Allah knows best.

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