What is your opinion of those who are fanatical about the four schools of jurisprudence and do not consider it permissible to depart from them (and the story of Al-Albani with some of the Sufis and his discussion with them regarding the issue of building on graves, and the authenticity of the hadith: "Leave the people in their heedlessness")

The Shaykh : It is sufficient for you, if there is sin in it—may Allah forbid it—that you mentioned his description, as long as it is his name. So when his name comes, his name matches his description... But this falls under the two lines of poetry that I always recite every day.
Criticism is not suspicion in six cases: *** the aggrieved, the known, and the warned.
The known and the warned.
These are the ones. There is no backbiting regarding them; rather, backbiting may even be obligatory regarding them.

The questioner : How did he bring up the topic? He said: We find that some preachers attack some of the committed, or those whose beliefs are in the schools, for example, the Hanafi attacking the Shafi'i. They are following a specific act of worship that may differ from their ideas, and he comes and attacks them. Why? Leave them as they are. And we don't have to say, meaning, that there should be no innovations, don't talk about innovations. This is what the one who was preaching brought up. For example, the Hanafis, the Shafi'is, we don't have to object to them or criticize them in the type of worship they perform and the place... It is as if this Islamic religion and the worship our Lord commanded us in are a hundred forms. Meaning, his intention is that any innovation...

The Shaykh : Did they all seek from the Messenger of Allah?

The questioner : His state of being speaks of it.

The Shaykh : Yes. And this Abu 'Adnan draws from these books which, unfortunately, explicitly state that the four schools of jurisprudence are four laws, so whichever law you follow, you are on the right path. They say this and ignore the fact that there were actually laws from prophets and infallible messengers, and Islam came and abrogated them in their entirety, both in general and in detail. They do not keep the truth in mind, then they come and assume that four schools are like four laws, so you are free to choose. And from here comes the phrase that some people mistakenly think is a Prophetic hadith: "Whoever follows a scholar will meet Allah in safety." So this and similar things lead them to follow misguidance. And branching from this is a hadith. The first time I encountered it in my academic life, incidentally, was in a discussion between me and one of the Sufi shaykhs there in Damascus. Allah the Exalted and Majestic decreed that I got to know a carpenter at a time when it did not appear to me then that he was committed as he should be, but I sensed guidance in him, and the bond and affection between us strengthened. I started attending private gatherings in his house, and I realized that he was from the group of one of the Sufi shaykhs there, from those who hold what they call gatherings of dhikr, which are gatherings of dancing. And unfortunately, the gathering was attended by...The Shaykh : ...the French consul at that time, he and some of his women as well.

The questioner : Of course, a Christian?

The Shaykh : A Christian. The important thing is that our friend brought up a discussion one day about musical instruments and that they are forbidden in Islam. We went on in the conversation and reached the mosques built on graves. A few days later, he told me that he had spoken with...The Shaykh : ...what was his name...The Shaykh : ...al-'Aitah, do you remember? His nickname al-'Aitah remains in my memory. The important thing is that he told him there is nothing wrong with building mosques on graves, and he told my friend, what do you think about meeting with...The Shaykh : ...? The important thing is that the meeting took place and the gathering happened, and I started speaking about the prohibition of building mosques on graves. I mentioned to him a mosque we had in the neighborhood. This did not please him, in fact, more than what I should mention about this man, because he died, because few are those who admit the truth. And even if he ultimately deviated from the truth in some way, he did not deny it and did not argue with falsehood, as you know from the books of al-Ghumari.

The questioner : Yes, I know.

The Shaykh : Ah, so he admitted this, but what did he say to me? And here is the point, he said to me, O Shaykh, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . I have not heard of this hadith, . This is the logic of...The Shaykh : ...which you referred to, but I was a young novice in the pursuit of knowledge at that time, and I did not have this type of comprehensive knowledge of the Sunnah and the authentic and weak hadiths, and so on. This hadith troubled me because I weighed it with scientific logic. Leave the people in their heedlessness. Where is enjoining good and forbidding evil? Where? How can this hadith say either this hadith has no basis, or it is an interpretation and exposure that I do not understand. That was it, the session ended, and I went home. I could not sleep until I searched for this hadith and found it. This hadith was recorded by...The Shaykh : ...Ismail al-'Ajilani and others in his book "Kashf al-Khafa' (Unveiling the Hidden)." And since the hadith is circulated on the tongues of some people in the wording mentioned by...The Shaykh : ... is circulated, but the function of these books is to distinguish the authentic from the weak among what is common on the tongues of people. And there he says: The hadith is in Sahih Muslim, and in my opinion does not contain the word . So what did those who publicized this hadith and embellished it do? They deleted the second half. Is it the relationship of the hadith to sales and not going out to receive those coming from the desert? So they threw away the first and second halves and put in their place, in their heedlessness. The hadith became . So now, the words you hear are derived from this meaning. What do you have to do with people? This is an innovation, this is a Sunnah, this is from the authentic, unlike the hadith. What do you have to do with people? Leave the people in their heedlessness. This is the guidance of Islam. Then, as you all know, many of these shaykhs who are thought to have knowledge, and the second type of those obligated, namely women, were unfortunately deceived. They tell you, so-and-so the scholar said: such and such. And so-and-so the scholar said: such and such. And they are not from knowledge in any way, near or far. So these, mostly, as al-Ghazali called them in his time, are scholars of rituals, meaning, what does the king draw here?

The questioner : They follow.

The Shaykh : They follow. So this is it. And the truth is that they were appointed to guide people and teach them, and if they had done that, they would have been like the others, dismissed from their positions. They were real scholars. May Allah help us.

The questioner : ... ؟

The Shaykh : This guidance has its objectives. It is clear like this.
Here he laughed.The Shaykh : .