Explaining the error in the phrase that the method of the Salaf is safer and the method of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise
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The Shaykh : And thus, we find in the words of some of the precise scholars, such as al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), "The method of the Salaf is safer, and the method of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise".
And this phrase is a description by the Shaykh al-Islam of the one who said it as being ignorant, so he said (may Allah have mercy on him): "Some of the ignorant ones said: The method of the Salaf is safer, and the method of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise". And there is no doubt that this phrase is a lie and contradictory. As for it being contradictory, it is because if the method of the Salaf is safer, it must be more knowledgeable and more wise, because we do not know safety except through knowledge and wisdom: knowledge of the causes of safety and wisdom in following these causes.
And secondly: How can the method of the Khalaf be more knowledgeable and more wise, when they are the ones who distorted the words from their places? And how can the path of the Salaf be more knowledgeable than the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Companions, and his Rightly Guided Caliphs? And how can it be more knowledgeable when the sayings of the Salaf are all abundant, converging, and apparent in establishing the meaning?
And this phrase is a description by the Shaykh al-Islam of the one who said it as being ignorant, so he said (may Allah have mercy on him): "Some of the ignorant ones said: The method of the Salaf is safer, and the method of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise". And there is no doubt that this phrase is a lie and contradictory. As for it being contradictory, it is because if the method of the Salaf is safer, it must be more knowledgeable and more wise, because we do not know safety except through knowledge and wisdom: knowledge of the causes of safety and wisdom in following these causes.
And secondly: How can the method of the Khalaf be more knowledgeable and more wise, when they are the ones who distorted the words from their places? And how can the path of the Salaf be more knowledgeable than the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Companions, and his Rightly Guided Caliphs? And how can it be more knowledgeable when the sayings of the Salaf are all abundant, converging, and apparent in establishing the meaning?