Who are the believers referred to in the verse: “And whoever opposes the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers…”

The Shaykh : Who are the believers in this verse? What comes to mind initially is the first of the Companions. This is further supported by the praise of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for the Companions and for those who followed them with excellence in some of the noble verses, and by the praise of the Messenger (peace be upon him) for them in the mass-transmitted hadith, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Therefore, it is necessary for us to include, alongside the Book and the Sunnah, the following of the righteous Salaf in their understanding of the Book and the Sunnah. It is not permissible for us to innovate an understanding of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, because the Arabic language, as you know, carries multiple meanings. It is narrated from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “If the people of falsehood argue with you using the Qur'an, then argue with them using the Sunnah, for the Qur'an carries multiple meanings.” It carries multiple meanings. This meaning narrated from 'Umar is very clear when we read the principles of jurisprudence, where you have surely studied that there is the general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted. If an innovator wanted to forbid Muslims dead fish and argued using the saying of the Exalted: , his argument would be apparent, because from the perspective of the Arabic language, the indication of the verse is clear. But when the Sunnah came to clarify the Qur'an, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , the verse was restricted by this hadith. There are many, many examples of this. Therefore, we say that it is necessary for us to make it part of our methodology, in addition to the Book and the Sunnah, to refer to the understanding of the righteous Salaf regarding the texts of the Book and the Sunnah. Otherwise, we will go astray and fall into one of the misguided sects that the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned in the well-known authentic hadith, namely his saying (peace be upon him): . They said: Who are they, O Messenger of Allah? He said: . He did not say: It is only my Sunnah; he said: . The other narration adds clarification and explanation to the first narration, where he said: . He did not say: Only what I am upon; he said: . Similarly, the other well-known hadith in the Sunnah from al-'Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) admonished them, and among what he admonished them with was his saying (peace be upon him): .