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Is it permissible for a teacher to compel a female student to follow certain jurisprudential opinions that differ from the student's own view?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

An ordinary person must seek fatwas and follow scholars, and ask those known for their knowledge and righteousness. It is not permissible to imitate someone whose knowledge is unknown. There are conditions for those who are qualified to issue fatwas, and their fatwas are merely a means to clarify their inclusion within the rules of the madhhab. The questioner is not obliged to ask a Qur'an teacher if there are other qualified individuals to issue fatwas, nor is he always obliged to consult the most knowledgeable. It is not permissible to act upon a mufti's fatwa if one's heart is not at ease with it. The questioner must ask again until reassurance is achieved, especially if the lack of trust in the mufti is due to his ignorance or his failure to adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah. A mufti's fatwa is not binding on the questioner, and it is not obligatory to act upon it except by the questioner's own commitment.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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