If the proof is established against this imam who contradicts the Sunnah, is he still to be followed in his contradiction of the Sunnah?

The questioner : In this matter, sometimes, may Allah reward you, through the discussion in this field that we are talking about, one... Do you remember, Shaykh, in this field, do you remember this topic? It was like, as you say, it moistened the other side a bit. He says: If he established the evidence and advised the imam and clarified the truth to him, then we say there are two perspectives: the perspective of following, and the perspective that he has fulfilled the obligation that is upon him. And if the man, this imam, is arrogant in this matter, or... give us a glimpse of these nice glimpses?

The questioner : Do you remember Murad?

The Shaykh : Of course, how was it yesterday?

Another questioner : No, no, Murad al-Ahmadi, the Algerian brother, is not...

The Shaykh : I don't know him...

The questioner : The last time, the capable young men there... and what is the name of the second one, 'Aziz al-Din...

The Shaykh : In any case, the brother Abu 'Abdullah reminds me of what is related to this topic. And indeed, it may be a balm for some wounds that we do not say that it is obligatory for us to imitate and follow the imam who contradicts the Sunnah absolutely. I will explain this, but at the same time, we say that it is not easy for us to say that we have clarified it and that is it, and it is no longer obligatory for us to follow, because this is also a sensitive point in the topic. If we ask for an imam that you know well, and you advised him to follow the Sunnah of raising and lowering the hands, and you brought him every verse, every proof and evidence, but he did not believe in it and did not submit himself to it, and you personally became convinced that the man saw the truth and turned away from it, then the previous matter does not apply, because this man is arrogant. And when we say by this rule, we imagine the imams, we imagine the Companions, because the reality that every student knows—I do not say the disagreement that was among the imams, all the disagreement, I do not say that—but I must say that some of the disagreements that were among the imams are from the inherited and transmitted disagreements from the earliest generations, namely the Companions. Since that is the case, we now imagine our imam at that time, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, praying with the people and not raising his hands. We cannot imagine here that he is an ignorant man, or that he is a fanatic for a school of thought, because he has no follower other than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but he is just convinced like that.
So then, we have accepted this imam as our imam and role model, and this is his perspective, so we follow him, and nothing is lacking from our prayer at all.