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Imam Ibn ul Qayyim (d. 751 H.) said: “(It is important to) know the virtues of the scholars of Islam and their various levels and abilities and the rights due to them. (It is also important to know) that their knowledge and their virtues and their sincerity to Allah and His Messenger does not obligate us to accept everything that they say, or to accept mistakes in their fataawa about issues that the texts (from the Qur'aan and Sunnah) had not reached them, so they said what they thought was correct based on what they knew, however the truth was something different. (If that happened) it is not obligatory to throw away everything that they have ever said, nor is it obligatory to defame them or diminish them.
There are two unjust extremes (i.e. accepting everything that the shaykh says or rejecting everything that he has ever said because of a mistake) and the correct path is between them. We do not shun (him because of his mistake) nor do we regard him as infallible. Whoever has some knowledge of religion and worldly affairs knows with certainty that an honorable and respected man (i.e. a scholar who is a mujtahid or capable of deducing legal rulings from the texts of the Qur'aan and the Sunnah after through research) who has done good things for Islam is likely to have made some mistakes. However, these mistakes are not only excused for him but he is actually rewarded for his (ijtihaad) through research! Therefore it is not permissible to scrutinize him for this, nor is it permissible to destroy the respect and high position that he had in the hearts of the people.”
I’laam-ul-Muwaqqi’een (Vol. 3, pg. 295).
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