Can anyone answer questions or only Alim(a)s?

[abdushakur]

Just wondering about the etiquettes of this Q&A board.

If a layperson asks a Q, is it expected that only someone with a formal islamic education can answer? An alim or alimah for example.

or can anyone give their 2p worth?

or can anyone answer as long as they quote an alim?

or can only an alim answer as long as they dont quote a layperson?


u get my drift...

[Live for Islam]

Wa alaykumus salaam Warahmatullah,

Alhamdulillah we have Ulama amongst us on sunniforum who take the time out to answer any questions that any member may have. Therefore it is preferable that they respond to the questions posed here in the Islam Q & A forum. However, I think non-Ulama can answer if either:

a) They quote a Scholar in their post

b) They post up answers that other Islamic reliable websites (Sunnipath/DarulIftaa/Ask-Imam etc) may have given for that particular question

c) They give references to an authentic reliable kitab (so their answers aren't based on personal opinion)

d) They confer with a Scholar first with regards to the answer then post it up

Insha-Allah, non-Ulama should bear in mind the above before posting in this specific forum. Some of the more complex questions should be left solely for the Ulama to answer, so a non-scholar doesn't fall into the trap of giving an answer which is wrong.

But in any case, our Muftis/Alims/Alimas on board do check the answers (posts) in the Islam Q & A threads before closing it (marking it as 'answered'), so if anyone was to give an answer which wasn't totally correct, they would be corrected.

On a side note, please try and keep the title of your threads in sentence/title case in future, Insha-Allah.

Jazakallahu khair.

Wassalam

[Hamood]

I think only the scholars of this forum should answer. Firstly because non-scholars are simply non-scholars, some are knowledgeable and some are not and obviously nobody is policing them out of respect. Secondly, I think all the scholars/mufti are generally from the same maslak in this forum, so I guess that itself makes sense otherwise we would have a shia answer q&a which might tremendously mislead some of the seekers of knowledge. Just my opinion.

[Mossy]

We let any member respond in threads in the Islam Q&A as often the answers are pretty easy to link/refer to.. Also, sometimes clarification is needed of certain bits.. If you completely have no idea, it may be an idea not to respond though

Threads are locked after a qualfiied scholar has had a look at the answers and possibly given their own if the supplied answers don't fit.

[Hamood]

We let any member respond in threads in the Islam Q&A as often the answers are pretty easy to link/refer to.. Also, sometimes clarification is needed of certain bits.. If you completely have no idea, it may be an idea not to respond though

Threads are locked after a qualfiied scholar has had a look at the answers and possibly given their own if the supplied answers don't fit.

ok