Permissibility of taqlid for one who is unable to examine the evidence:

Someone might object, “Not everyone can become a scholar in the full sense you have just described.” We reply: That is certainly true—but who ever disputed it? Allah says, “So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know” and He says, “So ask someone well-informed about it.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ rebuked those who gave fatwas in ignorance, saying, “Why did they not ask when they were unsure? The remedy for ignorance is to ask.”

It should be remembered, however, that our discussion has never been about classifying who is able and who is unable. The context makes plain that we are speaking about a particular group who are assumed to be scholars and who are presumed capable—at least in some questions—of tracing rulings back to their proofs. In reality, they are only conversant with the positions of their school, while remaining ignorant of the Quran and Sunnah. Hence the objection is misplaced from the outset—especially since, at the beginning of this section, I pointed out that the legal maxim under discussion yields two important conclusions:

First: taqlid does not constitute beneficial knowledge, a point I have demonstrated, Allah willing, with sufficient clarity.

Second: taqlid is the duty of the unlearned layperson, whereas the scholar who is able to ascertain the proofs is excluded from it; his duty is ijtihad, not imitation. This becomes manifest when the second point is explained in detail. I therefore say: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, immediately after the passage of his that was summarized earlier, states: