If you are among the believers and upon the path of their predecessors, then derive knowledge from their reports (athar) and derive guidance from their way, and be satisfied with these reports as an Imam, just as that people were satisfied with them as an Imam for themselves. For by my life, you are not more knowledgeable of the Book of Allah than them, nor are you their equal; rather, you are more misguided and more ignorant. It is impossible to emulate them except by following these reports as they are narrated. Whoever does not accept them only desires to follow a path other than that of the believers.
Allah, the Most High, says: "And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers - We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination" [An-Nisa: 115]. End quote.
Al-Lalaka'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said in the introduction to his book 'Usul I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah' (1/27): "I seek proof for the correctness of the schools of the Ahl al-Sunnah by what has been reported in the Book of Allah the Most High regarding them, and by what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). If I find mention of them in both, I mention both. If I find them in one without the other, I mention that. If I do not find them in either, I look to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), whom Allah and His Messenger have commanded us to emulate, to be guided by their statements, and to be illuminated by their light, due to their witnessing of the revelation and the descent of the Quran, and their knowledge of the meanings of interpretation; I then use them as proof. If there is no report from a Companion, I look to those who followed them in goodness (the Tabi'in), in whose statements lie healing and guidance, and whose religious adherence is a means of proximity and favor to Allah. If we see that they have reached a consensus on a matter, we rely upon it, and whomever they denounced, or whose innovation they rejected, or whom they declared a disbeliever, we judge accordingly and believe it."
There has never ceased to be, from the time of the Messenger of Allah until our day, a people who preserve this method and practice their religion through it. Indeed, those who perish are those who deviate from this method due to their ignorance of the paths of following (ittiba'). End quote.
