Censuring those who are fanatical about the madhhab of one of the imams

The Shaykh : Finally, we come to another group, which follows those groups, namely those who are fanatical about the opinion of the Shaykh and the opinion of the madhhab, even though they know that a hadith has come explicitly and authentically in contradiction to it. These people also have a share of deviation, and although we know an excuse for some people, we are speaking here about the people of knowledge who are capable, first, of distinguishing the authentic hadith from the weak one, and then of understanding the meaning of the hadith correctly. It is not permissible for them to prefer taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence)The Shaykh : and following the imam over following the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because the evidence that refutes the first, second, and third groups regarding the obligation of following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is accompanied by other evidence that refutes these people, for they still hold fast to Islam, the Book and the Sunnah, and they believe in the Sunnah, unlike the first group and the others. So it is said to them: Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: to the end of the verse. And it is said to them: If you believe in Allah and the Last Day, return the matter in which you differ to Allah, which is His Book, and to His Messenger, which is his Sunnah and his hadith. If they do not return this difference to the Book and the Sunnah, the least that can be said is that there is weakness and deficiency in their faith. Therefore, the opinions of the imams agreed, as if Allah Mighty and Majestic inspired them, or perhaps they saw a vow to prefer their opinions over the opinions of the Sunnah, so Allah Mighty and Majestic inspired those distinguished imams, and they all said the same word: "If the hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab," along with many, many other words. There is no need for me to mention them or some of them, as they are recorded in the introduction of my book: "The Description of Prayer." These words from the imams draw the attention of their followers to what their Lord Blessed and Exalted is He has commanded them, which is to make their loyalty for Allah Mighty and Majestic alone and for His Messenger, and for no one else. This is because infallibility was not written for anyone after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) pointed to this reality in the authentic hadith: , and if he errs, he has one reward. This indicates to people that the mujtahid (a scholar qualified to derive rulings) is exposed to error, so it is not permissible for the followers of the mujtahid to present his words and his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) as the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), all of which is truth and correctness. As came in the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, that the polytheists mocked the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) one day by saying that they write down everything he says, whether his speech is in a state of satisfaction or in a state of anger. When Abdullah ibn Umar mentioned that to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said (peace and blessings be upon him), pointing to his noble mouth: . No human being, however high and exalted, however great a scholar, equals the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in this distinction, which is that nothing comes out of his mouth but truth. Therefore, the severe warning came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to some of the great righteous Salaf, when he feared for them that they would take something from the sayings that did not come to them through the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), but through the way of some of the infallible prophets. It came in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" from the hadith of Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and in his hand was a page he was reading from. He said to him: . He said: This is a page from the Torah that a man from the Jews wrote for me. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . If Moses (peace be upon him) were alive, it would not be possible for him except to be a follower among the followers of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And therefore, Jesus (peace be upon him), about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed us of his descent in the last of time, will not come ruling by the Torah or the Gospel, but rather he will come ruling by the Qur'an, according to the correct understanding of the Book and the Sunnah. And he is Jesus, the Word of Allah, which He cast to Maryam. So what do we say regarding the imams who were not revealed to and for whom infallibility was not written? It is even more so that we should not prefer following these people over following the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). We say this while acknowledging their virtue, their knowledge, and their fear of their Lord Blessed and Exalted is He. And from their fear is what I mentioned earlier: that they commanded their followers to make their following sincere for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).