It has reached us from some of them that you say: "The Salaf exerted effort in the branches, and we exert effort in the principles," and you gave an example of this by saying
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The questioner : These are some of the doubts that some questioners ask about:
The first one says: It has reached us from some of them that you say: "The Salaf exerted effort in the branches, and we exert effort in the principles", and they gave an example of this by saying that you say: "Allah has eyes". What is the validity of that? And the other says: How do you call for non-sectarianism while your students follow you in taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), and they say about the Companions: "They are men and we are men"?
The Shaykh : Glory be to You, this is a great slander! First of all, we do not claim ijtihad (independent legal reasoning); rather, we claim following. And if we do exert effort, we exert it in matters in which those before us did not exert effort.
The scholars of the Muslim community, through their sincerity in their knowledge and in their calling of their community to act according to the Book and the Sunnah, have not left a word for a speaker who comes after them. From our methodology and our creed, what we say on various occasions—and perhaps that was in the recent past or before that—we say: If two statements come from the Muslim scholars regarding one issue, we say: It is not permissible for anyone to introduce a third statement. Rather, if he is among the people of knowledge and choice, he must choose one of these two statements. Otherwise, let us suppose there are three statements, then he must choose...
The first one says: It has reached us from some of them that you say: "The Salaf exerted effort in the branches, and we exert effort in the principles", and they gave an example of this by saying that you say: "Allah has eyes". What is the validity of that? And the other says: How do you call for non-sectarianism while your students follow you in taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), and they say about the Companions: "They are men and we are men"?
The Shaykh : Glory be to You, this is a great slander! First of all, we do not claim ijtihad (independent legal reasoning); rather, we claim following. And if we do exert effort, we exert it in matters in which those before us did not exert effort.
The scholars of the Muslim community, through their sincerity in their knowledge and in their calling of their community to act according to the Book and the Sunnah, have not left a word for a speaker who comes after them. From our methodology and our creed, what we say on various occasions—and perhaps that was in the recent past or before that—we say: If two statements come from the Muslim scholars regarding one issue, we say: It is not permissible for anyone to introduce a third statement. Rather, if he is among the people of knowledge and choice, he must choose one of these two statements. Otherwise, let us suppose there are three statements, then he must choose...