Abu Dawud

Benefits and Issues:
Just as the rulings of the religion can be understood by an ordinary person, in the same way, they should be acted upon.
This is sufficient for obedience.
There are several drawbacks in extracting various aspects from these rulings and engaging in questioning about them.
Without necessity, splitting hairs creates severe difficulties for oneself and others; thus, by avoiding this, it is sufficient to act with sincere intention upon the simple and common meaning of the verses and hadiths.
It is mentioned in the Noble Qur’an that the Jews were commanded to slaughter a cow.
They began to ask questions regarding what color, what kind, and what type of cow.
With each question, the specification of the cow increased, and thus, slaughtering such a cow became more and more difficult.
Allah Ta’ala considered this method to be upon the wrong way of the Jews.
If, upon receiving the command, they had slaughtered any one cow with good intention, they would have been absolved of their obligation.
Asking too many questions has never been considered good, especially those questions which have no connection to practical life,
or are merely hypothetical issues.
Now, although the era of lawful and unlawful (revelation) is no longer present, still, only necessary and essential questions should be asked of the scholars, those which are related to actual reality.
To keep thinking up hypothetical scenarios and seeking or demanding answers for them is an unhealthy attitude, which Islam has prohibited.

Hadith Commentary:
Although the question is not the cause (‘illah) of the prohibition, since the ruling of its prohibition was revealed after the question, it is as if the question itself became the cause of its prohibition.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
A person who is legally responsible (mukallaf) must certainly ask about those acts of worship and deeds that are individually obligatory (fard ‘ayn) upon him. Regarding asking questions beyond this, people are of two types:
First, the one who possesses insight and understanding within himself—there is no harm for such a person in asking questions; rather, he should ask in order to increase his knowledge so that his scholarly insight may grow.
Second, the person who does not have the capacity for understanding and insight—he should not get involved in unnecessary questioning; rather, he should spend his time in the worship of Allah, the Exalted.

➋
It should be clear that the statement of Allah, the Exalted, is:
“If you do not know, then ask the people of knowledge.” ( an-Nahl 16:43)
This verse is not contrary to the aforementioned hadith, because the meaning of the hadith is that if a ruling has not been established at all, then asking about it is prohibited. In the noble verse, however, it is permissible to ask about an established ruling—one may seek clarification about it, or inquire about its nature: is it obligatory (wajib), or is it recommended (mustahabb), etc. But asking about the permissibility or prohibition of a ruling that has not been established is, according to the hadith, prohibited.
And Allah knows best.

Takhrij al-Hadith:
[صحيح بخاري 7289],
[صحيح مسلم 6116]

Fiqh al-Hadith:
➊ In those matters of the world for which prohibition and unlawfulness are not established by the Book, the Sunnah, or consensus (ijma‘), the basic principle is that such things are permissible, unless there is a prohibition from the Shari‘ah regarding them. See: [فتح الباري 269/13]
➋ One should avoid asking unnecessary questions.
➌ This hadith pertains to the era of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), that is, the period of the descent of revelation.
➍ Doing something that causes harm to others is unlawful (haram).
➎ When asking a question about a legal issue, one must take public interest into consideration.
➏ Depending on the context and circumstances, sometimes even a minor slip can become a very serious offense.

Benefit:
In this hadith, it is stated that asking unnecessary and frivolous questions is a disliked act. Although the determination of lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram) matters was connected to the era of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, now, due to anyone’s questioning, nothing will become lawful or unlawful, because what is halal and haram is clear. Nevertheless, asking frivolous questions remains a reprehensible (makruh) act.