The Shaykh Al-Albani’s disavowal of those who follow him blindly.

The Shaykh : Excuse me; I have only a short word to say regarding the previous topic that the two honorable professors discussed, and they spoke well on it—may Allah reward them with much good—
It is not only as you heard from our two mentioned colleagues, but we love for our brothers, the students of knowledge, to follow the imams and to follow them in that we do not imitate us. We disavow every person who imitates us blindly. If it appears to him that the truth is with others, we forbid him from imitating us. What you heard from the two honorable professors is sufficient, but I want to mention a word about one of the followers of the Imams of the four schools of jurisprudence, who is a follower of Imam Abu Hanifah, and his name is "Ismail al-Balkhi." He is biographed in "Tabaqat al-Hanafiyyah" by al-Laknawi, "Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi," and in other works. It was mentioned in his biography that he would raise his hands during the bowing of prayer and when rising from it. So it was said to him: "Do you not contradict your Imam? Your Imam says that raising the hands during the bowing and rising from it is disliked. How do you contradict him?" Look at the very beautiful and moderate answer he gave: "Allah—Mighty and Majestic—will hold us accountable on the Day of Resurrection for the knowledge we have been given. My knowledge, which I have reached, is that raising the hands during the bowing and rising from it is a recommended practice (sunnah). And I testify that Imam Abu Hanifah is more knowledgeable than I am. But I am responsible for what I know, and I am not responsible for what he knows. Even if he is more knowledgeable than I am, each one will be held accountable for what he knows. This is the correct following, with reverence for the Imams. So when we say about something that it is correct, that it is a recommended practice (sunnah), and so on, we do not claim that we are better than them. But we follow their path, as Allah—Mighty and Majestic—commanded us in the previous verse, and warned us against contradicting the path of the believers. So the path of the Imams, first, is that they do not imitate one another except out of necessity. And the path of the followers of the Imams is that they do not imitate their Imams—likewise—except in cases of necessity. This is our path. We do not impose on anyone to imitate us; rather, we forbid it for them. He must follow the evidence, whether it is with us or with others. And in that is a clear warning and a lesson for whoever wants to take heed.