When and How to Take an Easier Opinion?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
What do I do if I have been taking the easier of two opinions when there is a difference of opinion – and now I am doubtful, especially about purification?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
The first thing to do is ignore the possibility of any impurity on you. The basis of all things is purity unless proven otherwise. [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa’l-Nazair]
Moving forward, try to act upon the stronger and more relied-upon position of your particular Jurisprudential school of thought.
Thereafter, if there is legitimate difficulty in following the relied-upon position, then you can consult a scholar who will give you the dispensation of an easier ruling.
This will confirm that your view of the situation is in line with the Sacred Law and that your decision to take an easier opinion is not merely based on whim but real necessity.
Related answer:
- Taking the Easier of Two Opinions
- How to Choose to Follow an Opinion within a School of Law?
- Avoiding Differences of Opinion: Why & When Can I Follow Another School?
- The Path of Taqwa: Avoiding Differences of Opinion
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
