Explanation of how some of the later generations neglected much of the Sunnah due to principles they adopted from the science of theology, and how that led them to a great distance from the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Then, after them, came a generation that neglected the Prophetic Sunnah and ignored it because of principles adopted by some scholars of theology, and rules claimed by some scholars of jurisprudence and the followers of the madhhabs. The result of this was the aforementioned ambiguity, which in turn led to doubt regarding a large portion of the Sunnah, and to the rejection of another portion because it contradicted those principles and rules. Thus, the situation was reversed for these people. Instead of referring the Qur'anic verses to the Sunnah and judging by it, they reversed the matter and referred the Sunnah to their rules and principles. They accepted whatever of the Sunnah agreed with them, and rejected the rest. In this way, the complete connection between the Muslim and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was severed, especially among the later scholars. They returned to being ignorant of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his biography, his worship, his fasting, his night prayers, his Hajj, his rulings, and his fatwas. If asked about any of these matters, they would answer you either with a weak hadith that has no basis, or with what is in such-and-such a madhhab. If it happened to contradict an explicit hadith and they were reminded of it, they would not mention it, nor would they accept returning to it, citing doubts that are not worth mentioning now. All of this is caused by those principles and rules referred to, some of which will be mentioned shortly, if Allah wills.
This plague has spread and overwhelmed all Islamic lands, academic journals, and religious books, with few exceptions. You will not find anyone issuing fatwas based on the Book and the Sunnah except for a few rare individuals. In fact, the majority of them rely on one of the four madhhabs in their rulings, and they may even go beyond them to others if they find an interest they claim in doing so. As for the Sunnah, it has become forgotten among them, except when interest—also—demands it, as some did regarding the hadith of Ibn Abbas concerning divorce with the phrase "three," and that it was considered a single divorce in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They relegated it to the status of one of the weaker opinions, whereas before they adopted it, they used to fight it and fight those who called to it.