Hakikat Kitabevi Publications No: 10 answer to an enemy of islam

Al-Qur’ân al-kerîm, which He sent
to him; He created whatever He had promised him. He declared
that He was going to protect the religion of Islam, which He sent
through him, against alteration and corruption until the end of the
world. He said also that Muhammad’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) umma was
the best of mankind; and the Prophet gave the glad tidings that this
umma would never become corrupt until the end of the world and
commanded men to hold fast to his path. Allâhu ta’âlâ, in the
114th âyat of the Sûrat an-Nisâ’, declares: 
‘We will throw the one
who deviates from the Believers’ path into Hell.’ Therefore, the
ijmâ’ (agreement, unanimity) among the ’ulamâ’ of Islam has
become a hujja (document) and a dalîl (proof, evidence) for
religious knowledge. Deviation from this ijmâ’ has become a
prohibition. Those who do not know this path of ijmâ’ should learn
it by asking those who know, which is a command stated in the
43rd âyat of the Sûrat an-Nahl. This âyat is explained in the Hadîth
ash-sherîf, 
‘Ask those who know about what you do not know. The
cure for ignorance is to learn by asking.’
“As the ’ulamâ’ of Islam say unanimously, a 
mujtahid is a
person who has memorized the Arabic vocabulary; who knows the
different, literal and allegorical meanings of words; who is an ’âlim
of fiqh; who has committed the Qur’ân al-kerîm to his memory and
knows the ways it is read (qirâ’a); who knows the tafsîrs of all the
âyats of the Qur’ân al-kerîm; who can distinguish between
muhkam and mutashâbih, nâsikh and mansûkh, qasas and other
âyats and sahîh, muftarî, muttasil, munqati’, mursal, musnad,
mashhur and mawqûf hadîths; who also is a possessor of wara’,
whose nafs has attained tazkiya (rescuing the nafs from its
(harmful desires); and who is sâdiq (sincere in his word) and amîn
(trustworthy). Only such a personage who has all these excellences
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can be followed (taqlîd) and can issue fatwâs. If he lacks one of
these qualities, he cannot be a mujtahid and should not be
followed. He himself should follow a mujtahid. Hence, a Muslim is
either a