Ruling 4 — Following a Jurist (Taqlīd)

There are four ways to obtain a fatwa, i.e. an edict issued by a mujtahid: 1. hearing it from the mujtahid himself; 2. hearing it from two dutiful people who narrate the mujtahid’s fatwa; 3. hearing it from someone whose word one trusts; 4. reading it in the manual of Islamic rulings (risālah) of the mujtahid, on condition that one has confidence in the manual being correct.