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Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, I have written the following which inshaAllah is a good reminder for us, and hopefully the evidences be used as guiding principles for our Islamic sharing on this website. Importance of the Quran, the Sunnah and utilising the Scholars. As Muslims we need to learn Islam according to the Quran and Sunnah, with the explanations by the early Muslims, and we should understand that Islamic ruling / fatawa are given by the Ulema. It simply can not be based upon our own personal opinions, philosophies or even logic. The Quran and the Sunnah is our perfect source. The Quran is the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the Angel Gabriel. The Sunnah is the teaching of the Prophet from his words and It is not for us to reject or ignore a hadith, because our own personal desires or thoughts say otherwise. Allah said in the Qur'an: “Your companion (Muhammad) is neither astray nor being misled. Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is (only) the revelation with which he is inspired” (Surah An-Najm 53:2-4). The Sunnah is based upon the words, actions and approvals of the Prophet (s). The Prophet (s) did not teach anything that was not revealed to him from Allah the Most High. Imam Ahmad, rahimahullah said in his work Usul as-Sunnah, that the Sunnah explains the Quran and there is no Qiyas in the Sunnah. - Qiyas means that a person can not use analogical reasoning of the Sunnah. Unfortunately, some individuals choose to ignore the Sunnah. They make varying excuses due to either their ignorance or arrogance, or perhaps even both. The Prophet of Allah said: “I have been given the Qur'aan and something similar to it besides it. Yet a time will come when a man leaning on his couch will say ‘follow the Qur'aan only; what you find in it permissible, take as permissible, and what you find as forbidden, take as forbidden’. But verily what the Messenger of Allaah has forbidden is like what Allaah has forbidden” Authentic Hadith (Ahmad, Abu Dawood) “Whosoever obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allaah” (Surah An-Nisa 4:80) “But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you (O’ Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept them with full submission” (Sura An-Nisa 4:65) “It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decreed by Allaah and His Messenger to have any choice in the matter. If anyone disobeys Allaah and His Messenger he is clearly astray” (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:36) The Prophet said: “I have left two things among you, as long as you hold fast to them you will never go astray. They are the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger" (Al-Muwatta) The Importance of the Scholars: Narrated By Abdillah Ibn Amr Ibn 'Aas (radiallahu 'anhu) he said: I heard the Prophet say :"Allah does not take away knowledge by taking it away from the hearts of the worshippers. But he takes knowledge by taking away the Ulama (Scholars) until there are hardly any scholars then the people will take ignorant leaders and they will be asked questions and they will give rulings without knowledge so hence they go astray and lead others astray." (Bukhari and Muslim) The learned scholars who spend their days and nights, enduring hardships in seeking knowledge of Islam to help the Ummah. They understand topics of the Deen based not merely by one or two ayaat or hadith, but with the scope of knowledge needed to make answers and verdicts. - The hadith above shows the importance of the scholars, the fact that by taking the scholars away Allah takes knowledge away. Brothers and sisters, Muhammad Ibn Sireen (rahimahullah) said, "This religion is knowledge so therefore beware of who you take your knowledge from". Another statement of the past scholars is "Do not take from a Suhufi (one who reads books and never studied under the scholars) nor a Mushafi (one who reads Qur'an but never studied the rules of Tajweed or Tafseer under the scholars). People who can give Fatwa are the elite known scholars, nobody else. It is not right for an individual to come along and give their own opinions on matters of the Deen. Whether its a matters of science of hadith, tafsir, fiqh or Aqeedah. A person can not merely negate matters of shariah because they do not like it. Unfortunately, these days individuals cite they are using "logic" in order to give what are in fact their personal erroneous desires and philosophies. We must look to the early sources and respect the matters of the early Muslims and the scholars of our times. Remember again, the Prophet said that Allah removes the knowledge, by the removal of the scholars. When people start taking their rulings and understanding of the Deen from the ignorant people who do not bring evidences or the statements of the scholars, this is when our personal beliefs and the Ummah itself become weaker. May Allah guide us to what is the best way and make things easier for us, amin Wasalamu alaykum