Fatvo so'ragan kishi (mustafti) muqallid emas, chunki muqallid shar'iy hukmni qabul qilib, unga amal qiluvchi kishidir. Mustafti esa shar'iy hukmni, uni biladigan kishidan – u mujtahid bo'ladimi yoki bo'lmaydimi – o'rganadigan kishidir, va mustafti buni amal qilish uchun o'rganganmi yoki shunchaki ilm uchun o'rganganmi, bu farq qilmaydi. Mustafti – har qanday masala bo'yicha Allohning hukmini bilishni istagan kishidir. Shunday ekan, biror hukm borasida mujtahid bo'lmagan har bir kishi o'sha hukm bo'yicha fatvo so'raguvchidir. Demak, hech bir masalada mujtahid bo'lmagan kishi barcha masalalarda mustaftidir. Ba'zi masalalarda mujtahid bo'lgan kishi esa, ijtihod qilmagan masalalarida mustaftidir. Allohning hukmini mustaftiga bayon qilib beruvchi kishi esa mufti hisoblanadi. Arab tilida shunday deyiladi:

The one who seeks a legal verdict (mustafti) is not a muqallid, because the muqallid is one who adopts the Sharī’ah rule and acts upon it. As for the mustafti (one who seeks a legal verdict), he is the one who learns the hukm Shar’i from a person who knows this hukm, whether that person is a mujtahid or not, and whether the mustafti learned it in order to practise it or just for the sake of knowledge. The mustafti is anyone who seeks to know the rule of Allah  pertaining to an issue. So anyone who is not a mujtahid with regard to a hukm is a seeker of a legal verdict in regard to that hukm. Thus the one who is not a mujtahid in any issue he is a mustafti (seeker of a legal verdict) in all issues. Whoever is a mujtahid in certain issues he is a mustafti in the issues he has not exercised Ijtihād in. As for the one who explains the rule of Allah  to a mustafti (seeker of a legal verdict) he is a mufti. It is said in the Arabic language:

Va biror masala bo‘yicha biror olimdan fatvo so‘ragan kishi, ya’ni undan o‘sha masala haqida hukm berishini talab qilgan kishi, degani shu. Sahoba va tobe’inning fatvolari esa ular xalqqa bayon qilgan qoidalardir. Allohning hukmini bilish farz ekan, mujtahid bo‘ladimi yoki bo‘lmaydimi, shar’iy hukmlarni boshqalarga o‘rgata oladigan kishilar bo‘lishi shart. Bunda hukmlarni dalillari bilan yoki dalilsiz o‘rgatgani ham farq qilmaydi. Hukmlarni o‘rgatuvchi kishi mujtahid bo‘lishi shart emas, xuddi boshqalarga o‘rgatuvchi musulmon dalillarni bayon qilishi shart bo‘lmagani kabi. Shuning uchun biror hukmni bilgan kishi o‘sha hukmni tushungach, uni boshqalarga o‘rgatishi joizdir. Bundan tashqari, xalqqa shar’iy hukmlar bo‘yicha fatvo beruvchi yoki ularni o‘rgatuvchi kishi mujtahid bo‘lishi shart emas. Aksincha, mujtahidning shar’iy hukmini biladigan mujtahid bo‘lmagan kishi ham o‘sha hukm bilan fatvo berishi joiz, chunki u hukmni o‘zi e’lon qilmasa ham, uni yetkazuvchidir. Bu ishda olim bilan boshqa kishi o‘rtasida farq yo‘q, xuddi hadislarni rivoyat qilishdagidek. Hadisni rivoyat qiluvchi olim bo‘lishi shart bo‘lmagani kabi, shar’iy hukmni boshqalarga yetkazuvchi kishi ham olim bo‘lishi shart emas. Demak, mujtahid bo‘lish shartining yo‘qligi yanada aniqroq (min bab al-awla). Ammo u yetkazadigan hukmni aniq va to‘g‘ri bilishi shart, chunki aniq bo‘lmasa va uni to‘g‘ri yetkaza olmasa, boshqalarga yetkaza olmaydi. Xuddi shuningdek, xalqqa shar’iy hukmni o‘rgatuvchi yoki ularga fatvo beruvchi kishi, ularga dalilni o‘rgatishi yoki yetkazishi shart emas. Balki u faqat dalilni keltirmasdan, shar’iy hukmni yetkazish bilan cheklanishi ham joizdir. u, unga shar’iy hukmni fatvo berish va uni dalilini bayon qilmasdan odamlarga o‘rgatish joiz. Biroq, u ularga aytayotgan narsasi shar’iy hukm yoki boshqa birovning, ya’ni ma’lum bir mujtahidning istinbot qilgani ekanligini tushuntirishi shart. Agar u biror fikrni yetkazib, ularga shunday deydigan bo‘lsa:

And he sought a legal opinion from an ‘alim regarding an issue means he requested him to give a legal opinion about it. The legal opinions of the Sahabah and the Tabi’een are the rules they clarified to the people. And since having knowledge of Allah’s rule is a fard, there must be people, whether mujtahids or not who can teach the Sharī’ah rules to others, irrespective of whether they teach the people the rules with or without the evidences. Since it is not stipulated that the one who teaches the rules should be a mujtahid, just as it is not stipulated for the Muslim who teaches others to clarify the evidences, it is allowed for someone who knows a hukm to teach it to others when he becomes conversant about that hukm. Furthermore, because it is not stipulated for the one who gives legal opinions to people regarding the Sharī’ah rules or teaches them himself to be a mujtahid, on the contrary it is permitted for a non-mujtahid, who is acquainted with the Sharī’ah rule of a mujtahid to deliver a legal opinion using that hukm because he is a carrier of the hukm even if he does not declare about this. In performing this action there is no difference between an ‘alim and others, such as in the reporting of ahadīth. Just as it is not stipulated that the transmitter of a hadīth be an ‘alim it is not stipulated either for the one who conveys a hukm Shar’i to others to be an ‘alim. So it is by greater reason (min bab al-awla) that there should be no stipulation for him to be a mujtahid. Even though it is stipulated that he should know the hukm that he conveys in a clear and accurate manner since he cannot convey it to others if he is not precise and unable to convey it properly. Likewise, it is not stipulated for the person who teaches people the hukm Shar’i or gives them legal opinions to teach them the evidence or convey it to them, Rather it is allowed for him to limit himself just to conveying the hukm Shar’i without quoting the evidence. i.e, it is permitted for him to give fatwa with the hukm Shar’i and teach it to people without clarifying them the evidence. However, he is required to explain to them that what he transmits to them is a hukm Shar’i or the inference (istinbat) of someone else i.e, of a certain mujtahid. However if he conveys an opinion and he says to them:

Fosiq (fosiq) va "naba" (xabar) so'zlarining noaniq (masdar) shaklda kelishi shuni ko'rsatadiki, har qanday fosiq kishi biror xabar olib kelganda, odamlar uning aytganini qabul qilishdan tiyilishlari, masalani tekshirishga harakat qilishlari va haqiqiy voqelikni aniqlashlari kerak, uning so'zini shunchaki qabul qilmasliklari lozim. Ushbu oyatning teskari ma'nosi (mafhum al-mukholafa) esa shuni anglatadiki, adolatli va to'g'riso'z ('adl) kishining so'zi qabul qilinadi, bu fatvo berish maqsadida bo'lsinmi yoki ilm olish maqsadida bo'lsinmi.

The use of the word ‘fasiq’ (transgressor) and ‘naba’ (news) in their indefinite (verbal noun) forms indicate that when any fasiq (transgressor) comes with any news, the people should desist from adopting what he says and seek to verify the matter and discover the true reality and not simply accept what he says. The opposite meaning (mafhum al-mukhalafa) of this verse is that the statement of the upright and just (‘adl) person is taken whether for the purpose of giving legal opinions or acquiring knowledge.