“So make yourself patient upon the Sunnah, and stop where the people stopped, and say what they said, and refrain from what they refrained from. Travel upon the path of your righteous Salaf, for verily sufficient for you is what was sufficient for them.”

[1] A Censure of the Intellect:

Imaam Abul Mudhaffar as-Sam'aanee said:

"Know that the methodology of the people of the Sunnah is that the intellect does not obligate something upon a person, nor does it raise something from him. It does not determine something to be permissible or impermissible for him, nor good or bad. If the person who heard it does not want, it does not obligate anything upon anyone, and it does not have a reward or punishment." [1]

He also said:

"The people of the Sunnah say: 'The foundation of the Religion is following (al-Ittibaa`), and the intellect is subservient.' So if the foundation of the Religion was upon the intellect, the creation would have been in no need of Revelation, nor of Prophets, and the meaning of commanding and prohibiting would be false, and whoever wished could have said whatever he wished." [2]

From 'Abdullaah Ibn 'Umar who said:

"Indeed my brother and I were sitting in a gathering. When the elders from the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah came, they sat by one of the doors from his (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) doors. We hated to divide between them so we sat in a room. When they mentioned an aayah [3] from the Qur`aan, they argued about it until the raised their voices. So the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) came out angry. Indeed his face was red. He flung dust at them and said: 'Slow down o people! Nations before you were destroyed because of this, due to their differing about their prophets and due to abandoning parts of their books for other parts. Verily the Qur`aan was not sent down denying itself, rather it affirms itself. So whatever you know from it, then act upon it, and whatever you are ignorant of from it, then refer it to someone who is knowledgeable about it.'" [4]

Imaam Ahmad said:

"So we refer the Qur`aan to One who is knowledgeable about it, to Allaah the Blessed and Exalted. So He is the most knowledgeable about it." [5]

Imaam as-Sam'aanee said:

"Indeed they make their intellects callers to Allaah, and they take them at the level of messengers concerning what is between them. So if a person says: 'There is none worthy of worship except Allaah and my intellect is the Messenger of Allaah', it will not be objectionable to the people of rhetoric (kalaam) by way of its meaning."[6]

'Abdullaah Ibn Mas'ood said:

"Follow and do not innovate, for indeed you have been sufficed, and every innovation is misguidance." [7]

Imaam al-Baghawee said:

"So the scholars from the people of the Sunnah are united upon the prohibition of quarrelling and argumentation, and upon driving others away from the discussion of theological rhetoric (kalaam) and from learning it." [8]

Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee said:

"That a slave meets Allaah with everything He forbade except shirk is better for him than theological rhetoric. Indeed I have seen things from the people of kalaam (theological rhetoric) that I do not think a Muslim would say." [9]

He (rahimahullaah) also said:

"Whoever manifests nationalism or theological rhetoric and calls to it, then he has apostated from the testimony (shahaadah). That the servant meets his Lord the Mighty and Majestic with every sin except shirk is better than meeting Him with something from desires (ahwaa`). [10]

Imaam Ahmad said to al-Mu'tasim during the days of the trial:

"I am not a person of argumentation or theological rhetoric (kalaam). I am only a person or narrations and reports." [11]

Allaah says:

"The first predecessors from the Emigrants and the Helpers and those who followed them in goodness - Allaah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens underneath which rivers flow. They will abide therein forever. That is the greatest achievement." [Sooratut-Tawbah 9:100]

Imaam al-Awzaa'ee said:

"Adhere to the narrations from the Salaf, even if the people oppose you and beware of the opinions of men, even if they beautify it with their speech. So indeed the matter is young and you are from it upon a straight path." [12]

He also said:

"So make yourself patient upon the Sunnah, and stop where the people stopped, and say what they said, and refrain from what they refrained from. Travel upon the path of your righteous Salaf, for verily sufficient for you is what was sufficient for them." [13]

In describing the path of the Salaf in creed (I'itiqaad), Shaykhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said:

"Whoever looks into the words of the famous imaams from the Salaf concerning this topic will come to know that they were the most accurate in discernment regarding this topic, due to authentic texts and unadulterated intellects. He will see that their statements are established upon the texts and the intellect. Due to this, they were united, not differing, established, not deficient. Those who opposed the Salaf and the imaams did not understand the reality of their statements. So they did not know the reality of the texts and the intellects, so they started to go in different directions and they started to differ about the Book, so they became opponents of the Book. Indeed Allaah the Exalted said:

"And Indeed those who differ about the Book are in extreme dissension." [Sooratul-Baqarah 2:176]" [14]

Imaam Abu Haatim ar-Raazee said:

"A sign of the people of innovation is their hatred of the people of narrations (Ahlul-Athar). A sign of the heretics (Zanaadiqah) is that the call the people of the Sunnah, Hashawiyyah (the Worthless Ones), wanting thereby to nullify the narrations. A sign of the Jahmiyyah [15] is that they call the people of the Sunnah, Mushabbihah. [16] A sign of the Qadariyyah [17] is that they call the people of narrations Mujbirah. [18] A sign of the Murji'ah [19] is that they call the people of Mukhaalifah (Opponents) and Nuqsaaniyyah (the Deficient Ones). A sign of the Raafidhah [20] is that they call the people of the Sunnah, Naasibah. [21] However, the people of the Sunnah are not deserving of any name except one and it is absurd to gather them upon these names." [22]

The Imaam, the Haafidh - Muhammad Ibn Sinaan al-Waasitee said:

"The Mushabbihah are those who go beyond the hadeeth. So as for those who speak with the hadeeth, then they do not increase upon what they hear. So these are the people of the Sunnah. They only believe what the hadeeth comes with, these are the believers. They believe in what the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) came with, and the Book and the Sunnah. [23]

Shaykhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said:

"Verily the great imaams used to forbid the usage of doubtful innovated general terms. In them, the truth is covered with falsehood, along with that, it causes doubt and differing and tribulation (fitnah) which are in opposition to the narrated terminology, and those terms whose meanings have not been fully explained. So whatever is narrated can be made familiar, and whatever is known can be made known. As Imaam Maalik said: 'If there is little knowledge, futility becomes manifest, and if there are few narrations, the desires increase.' So if a word is neither textually proven nor is its meaning known to the intellect, then it is useless and full of desires…" [24]