What are the pillars of following (the Sunnah), and is there a book written on this topic?

The questioner : Praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He misleads, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah the Exalted, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations. Every innovation is a religious innovation (bid'ah), every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. As for what follows, I left Baghdad on the twenty-sixth day of Sha'ban in the year 1012 of the Hijrah, intending to travel to the land of Sham. My heart was saying, as the poet said: "I passed by the houses, the houses of Layla, so I turned to this wall and that wall."
It is not the love of the houses that has captivated my heart, but the love of the one who dwells in the houses.
So I directed my face toward the house of the Shaykh of Hadith in our time. My eyes were delighted by seeing him, and my heart was happy with his company. I kept repeating to myself, with joy, his words and his excellent selection: "You have become, in Sweida, part of my heart and my gaze; I would sacrifice my black eyes for you." And I posed questions to our Shaykh.The Shaykh : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. May Allah bless his life and make truth upon his tongue and his pen, and make Paradise beneath his feet. He gave sufficient answers and satisfying replies. May Allah grant him strength and health. I ask Allah the Great, by the light of His noble Face, to make this blessing permanent for us and to keep the punishment away from us. I recorded these words within the series "Al-Huda wa al-Nur" (Guidance and Light), which was recorded and compiled by my dear and honored brother, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Layla al-Ashtari. May Allah increase him in faith and excellence, and may Allah guide us and him to beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds. I seek forgiveness from Allah the Great for myself and for all Muslims. And may Allah send prayers, peace, blessings, and favor upon His slave and Messenger Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions. Mahmud ibn Salman al-Baghdadi.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner : We have learned the difference between the Sunnah and religious innovation (bid'ah), but we have not read a book that speaks about the pillars of following (the Sunnah), just as there are books that mention the pillars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). What are the pillars of following (the Sunnah)?

The Shaykh : Yes, I think this is what the matter requires, some of the detail you asked about, especially since the Sunnah has technical terms among the scholars. The Sunnah, in their view, is what is opposite to the obligatory (fard) or what is below the obligatory, and it is above the recommended (mustahabb) and the encouraged (mandub). But this is a later technical term, because the Sunnah in the Shari'ah is much broader than the technical meaning of the Sunnah. The Sunnah is the Shari'ah that came with him (peace and blessings be upon him). Accordingly, two hadiths should be interpreted: one is authentic (sahih) and the other has no basis. We mention the latter by way of warning and caution against saying about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) what he did not say. However, if it were authentic, it would mean the same as the first hadith. The authentic hadith is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): I think the attendees, or some of them, remember the occasion of this hadith, which is So, the Sunnah in the language of the Shari'ah means the Shari'ah and standing firm on what came of command and prohibition. The other hadith has the same meaning, but it has no basis. I mention it because it is cited in some books of jurisprudence that narrate whatever comes to mind. If this were authentic, the intended meaning of the Sunnah here would be like the Sunnah in the first hadith, because intercession (shafa'ah), as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meanwhile, they cite this hadith in books of jurisprudence when they mention the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib), urging people to them by saying the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said this hadith, but the hadith has no basis. So, if the Sunnah in the Shari'ah includes everything in the Shari'ah, from creed and worship in its various types and forms, and from behavior and morals and the like, then there is no need for any other detail in this meaning.