What is the meaning of Imam Ahmad's statement: "And whoever claims that he does not approve of taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) and does not practice taqlid is an open sinner"?

The questioner : What is the meaning of Imam Ahmad's statement: "And whoever claims that he does not approve of taqlid and does not practice taqlid is an open sinner; he only intends by this to invalidate the athar, deny the divine attributes, and isolate himself with opinion, speech, religious innovation, and scholarly disagreement"?

The Shaykh : I do not know this statement either. I do not know this statement attributed to Imam Ahmad. And taqlid, as we have discussed repeatedly and often, is also a dire necessity. We, the callers to the Sunnah in all the lands of the world, have been wronged by many people, some intentionally and out of hatred, and some due to poor memory or poor knowledge, and sometimes both are present. They say that we make ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) obligatory for the general people, even for those who do not know—using the Syrian expression—"the letter 'alif' from the 'musatijah'." The 'musatijah' means the long stick; he does not distinguish between them. In another expression in northern Syria: "he does not distinguish between the five and the 'tamsah'." Thus they claim that we make ijtihad obligatory for the general people, may Allah preserve us!
We have said—and we continue to say—we said recently: Allah the Exalted said: . So people are either scholars or non-scholars. It is obligatory for this one to ask, and it is obligatory for that one to answer. As for every individual exerting his own effort... that is specific to this follower in a way that is not specific to the other imams. And this is fanaticism that leads to... the followers among the followers from the people of knowledge. And then what Allah—Mighty and Majestic—mentioned regarding some nations before us, namely the Christians, applies to them when our Lord—Mighty and Majestic—said regarding them: , .
Among the attributes of the Lord that no one is permitted to share in, or among the specific rights of the Lord that no one is permitted to share in, is the right of legislation, which includes making things lawful and forbidden. So no one on earth, not even the angels brought near, may forbid or permit anything for anyone except by revelation from Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He...
The Christians deviated from this path and attributed to some of their priests, monks, and scholars what was a specific right of Allah, the right of legislation. So when they forbade them something, they forbade it... and when they permitted them something, they permitted it. This verse was difficult for some of the Companions of the Messenger—peace be upon him—when it was revealed, and he was one of the few Arabs who had become Christian in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Because you know that the Arabs were an unlettered nation, as came in the authentic hadith, so they were not People of the Book. But some individuals among them who were given intelligence and acumen realized that... their Arab people were purely polytheists, and they found that in the religion of the Christians there was some knowledge and culture, so some of them became Christian. And among these was 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai, Hatim al-Tai, famous for his generosity among the Arabs, who became Christian in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. When Allah—Mighty and Majestic—sent Islam through Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—he embraced Islam and believed in him in a story narrated in "Musnad Imam Ahmad" and others. When he embraced Islam, he would sit with the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—receiving knowledge from him, because he knew that what he was upon of the religion of the Christians contained great and great deviation. When this verse was revealed, he did not understand its purpose. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, we did not take them as lords besides Allah." Because he understood, as many people today understand, that the meaning is that they say so-and-so is a creator with Allah, so-and-so is a creator with Allah. This is disbelief, which some of the researchers among the scholars have agreed to apply as disbelief in lordship, the opposite of oneness of lordship. This is not the intended meaning of the verse, contrary to what came to the mind of 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai, "we did not take them as lords besides Allah." So the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—clarified it to him by way of question and answer, and from this we learned some of our methods in discussing with some people: we ask him to take the answer from him. He—peace be upon him—said: Were you not forbidding it? He said: Yes. And the reverse is the reverse; that is, if they permitted you something forbidden, were you not permitting it? He said: Yes. He—peace be upon him—said: .
So the follower today, when you tell him: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said, he confronts you by saying: this is contrary to my madhhab (school of jurisprudence). So he... opposes the Book and the Sunnah by prioritizing that imam, knowing that there are other imams who may be higher in knowledge and status, or at least... in that, but he is with the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah. So why does he not heed all of that? Because he has made taqlid his religion. This making taqlid his religion is what we—the people of the Sunnah, the people of hadith, the supporters of the Sunnah, the Salafis—deny. We do not deny that the general people should follow scholars, but who are the scholars they follow? They are those who say: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said. And it is obligatory for them, indeed it is not permissible for them, to follow those who say to them: this is forbidden; why? ... The imam said so, my shaykh mentioned so, and so on. This is the application of the hadith of the old misguidance . So we want from the general Muslims, from the general and the specific of the Muslims, the specific to perform the duty of correct knowledge derived from the Book and the Sunnah, and the general to ask the people of knowledge, as He—Exalted is He—said: . So we do not say with this narration about which the question was asked, and I do not know its origin either, no... taqlid, nor do we make taqlid obligatory. Rather, we make it obligatory that we be upon the command of Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—in the Noble Qur'an: , . So we call all Muslims, their specific and their general, to be upon clear understanding of their religion. But the path differs: the specific are upon clear understanding of their religion without the intermediary of asking others, but by referring to the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah when they are qualified for that. The general are through their asking of these people. And then clear understanding is realized for the whole nation. And we must know that the effect of this... and this clear understanding that we call Muslims, as we said... their general and their specific, to be upon, is that by this we close the door of deception so that it does not deceive some Muslims; because these people have armed themselves with "Allah said" and "the Messenger of Allah said." So if the people of the Dajjal come to them to say something that no previous scholar has said before, and for which there is no evidence from the Book of Allah or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah; then this clear understanding drives the people of clear understanding to confront these people by saying: . So they will not be able to prove that they are among the truthful. Rather, when they are unable to bring the proof, they prove for themselves that they are among the liars.
Other than that?

The questioner : The previous questioner claims that this was narrated by Abu Ya'la... Ahmad ibn Ja'far ibn Ya'qub... from Imam Ahmad; meaning the statement of the Imam: "Whoever claims."

The Shaykh : Not everything mentioned in the biography of an imam from the imams of the Muslims means that the narration is valid.
Other than that?