Is it incumbent upon an unlearned questioner (mustaftī) to know the specific identity and current status of the mufti who issued the fatwa, and is it permissible for him to take rulings from an Iftaa website whose administrators he does not know, and is he considered negligent if he does so, and does the ruling differ if he cannot find someone he trusts?

There is no disagreement among the majority of scholars regarding the permissibility for a common person to seek a fatwa from someone known for knowledge, virtue, and justice, and the prohibition of seeking a fatwa from someone known for ignorance or wickedness. A common person can ascertain the eligibility of a mufti by seeing him appointed to issue fatwas in the presence of scholars, or by people flocking to him, or by the widespread confirmation of his eligibility (tawatur), or by its common currency (istifadah), or by observing signs of religiosity and knowledge in him, or by a trustworthy person reporting it. Scholars have differed on seeking a fatwa from someone whose condition is unknown, and the preponderant view is prohibition, due to Allah's saying: "So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know" (Qur'an 16:43), and someone whose condition is unknown does not qualify as one of the people of the Reminder. The same applies to fatwa websites: if their eligibility is known, it is permissible to refer to them, but if their condition is unknown, it is not permissible to seek a fatwa from them.