The agreement of the sects that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and their disagreement is in its application.

The questioner : ... The disagreement among some of the brothers. I read the book "Islamic Groups in the Qur'an and Sunnah," especially regarding "Jama'at al-Tabligh." I wish you would clarify to us what you see... of the defects or merits of "Jama'at al-Tabligh"?

The Shaykh : Yes, we are on our line that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and this is without doubt—and praise be to Allah—a text agreed upon by all Islamic groups. No one says: "The best guidance is the guidance of Abu Hanifa, or Malik, or al-Shafi'i, or Ahmad." They all believe that these are people of knowledge and virtue, and their goal is to follow the Messenger (peace be upon him) and proceed on his guidance. So, is the principle agreed upon by all Muslims that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? Despite this agreement, there is disagreement in its application, and in making this Prophetic principle a reality that operates on the face of the earth. Here, the matter becomes one of disagreement. We spoke earlier about the subject of knowledge: what it is. We said: "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said." This, too, is without disagreement. But the reality of the matter today is that you rarely hear a scholar answering a questioner say to you: "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said." Rather, as we said earlier, he says to you: "So-and-so said." And his saying "So-and-so said" is not knowledge, as we mentioned earlier. So, the important thing today is that Muslims meet on the agreed-upon legal principles among them and proceed upon them, and not set them aside. We say: The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Then you see this one prays with one form of prayer, and this one with a second form, and this one and this one, and so on. Likewise, wudu, fasting, Hajj, and so on. Why? What is the reason? The reason is that they did not apply the principle: "The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." Why? Because making this principle a reality in our religious life requires knowledge of what Allah said and what the Messenger of Allah said, and especially what the Messenger of Allah said that is authentic from him, and distancing oneself from what is not authentic from him. So where is this methodology? And where is its application in our reality today?