Acts of Worship

Question: An elderly, bedridden man cannot avoid impurity due to his old age and weakness. If he removes his trousers at prayer time, he suffers greatly from the air—even in summer—his leg joints hurting him. What is required of him?

Question: If a drop of blood falls into a vessel of water, that water becomes impure. If then a drop from this impure vessel falls into another vessel or onto clothing, does that render the water or clothing impure?

Question: Is it permissible to give a layman fatwā outside themadhhab, or outside the madhhab of the muftī—such as when the muftīgives him fatwā according to the madhhab of one of the Imams of the Ahlal-Bayt (ʿa), for the sake...

Question: If a pure layman—who knows nothing of taqlīd,commitment, or its conditions—comes asking fatwā in matters relatingto divorce, marriage, transactions, or acts of worship, how should he begiven fatwā? Should he be answered according to the madhhab of themuftī or...

Question: Guides (murshidūn) go out to instruct people in thecountryside and elsewhere, at the request of the scholars (may Allahpreserve them). The people of these villages must ask the guide aboutcertain matters—such as prayer, zakāt, and similar issues. Is itpermissible...

Question: There is discussion about the sayings of the people of themadhhab in al-Azhār, al-Sharḥ, al-Bayān, and other works—what is youropinion on that?

Q4: Do the jurisprudential curricula that are generalized for teachingentail uniformity of opinion, teaching a single methodology, issuing fatwasbased on it, ruling based on it, and limiting other interpretations to theirproponents? How is this methodology, which should be generalized,chosen?

Q3: Is the truth in matters of ijtihād with one side only, while the othersare mistaken?

Q2: Is every mujtahid correct, even if his evidence proves weakcompared to what others see as stronger and weightier?

Q1: Since it is not permissible for the mujtahid to imitate another, andhe must act upon what his own reasoning leads him to—must he teach hisstudents his own ijtihād and give them fatwās upon it? Or may he teachthem something...