Many individuals use the statements of men as a criterion to weigh the correctness of a saying. If they hold reverence for an individual, they will accept all his statements, even if they are false and in contradiction to the Book of Allāh or the Sunnah. Moreover, they will refuse to even listen to those who refute that false statement, even if the refutation is supported by evidences from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. Rather, they behave as if this revered person is infallible. Contrarily, if they do not revere an individual, they will reject all his statements even if they are true. Thus, they render personalities the deciding criterion for acceptance or rejection of a statement, while completely ignoring the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah.

When Ḥārith b. Ḥawṭ asked ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (رضي الله عنه), “O’ ʿAlī! Do you surmise Ṭalḥah and Zubayr to have a adopted a path of falsehood, while you alone were upon the truth?”. He responded, “O’ Ḥārith! Indeed you have been deceived. Know the truth, and you shall know its people. Indeed, the truth is not known by the statements of men. Rather, men are known by way of the truth.”

Whoever appoints for himself a shaykh or scholar whom he follows in all his statements and actions, showing allegiance to those who agree with him and animosity^[1] to those who oppose him besides Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ), then he is a misguided innovator who has exited the scope of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah, irrespective of whether he is from the people of knowledge and religiosity, like the shaykhs and scholars, or the political rulers in charge of war and administration, like the kings and ministers.

Rather, the obligation upon the entire ummah is to show complete obedience only to Allāh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to show allegiance to all the believers in a manner proportional to their faith, and to show animosity to the disbelievers proportional to their disbelief. This is as Allāh—the Most High—said:

إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ ‎﴿٥٥﴾‏ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ ‎﴿٥٦﴾‏

“Your ally is none but Allāh, His Messenger and those who have believed—those who establish prayer and give zakāh, and they bow (in worship). And whosoever takes Allāh, His Messenger, and those who have believed as allies, then the party of Allāh will be the victorious.”
[Al-Māʾidah, 5:55-56]

And He—the Exalted—said:

وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ

“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another.”
[Al-Tawbah, 9:71]

And He said:

وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ‎﴿١٠٥﴾‏ يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ وَتَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌ ۚ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ اسْوَدَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ أَكَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ فَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ ‎﴿١٠٦﴾‏ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ ابْيَضَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فَفِي رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ‎﴿١٠٧﴾‏

“Be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment. On the Day (i.e., the Day of Resurrection) when some faces will become white and some faces will become black; as for those whose faces will become black (to them will be said), ‘Did you reject faith after accepting it? Then taste the torment (in Hell) for rejecting faith.’ And for those whose faces will become white, they will be in Allāh’s Mercy (Paradise), therein they shall dwell forever.”
[Āl-ʿImrān, 3:105-107]

This is the fundamental difference between Ahl al-Sunnah (the people who ascribe themselves to the Sunnah, uniting upon their adoption of it) and Ahl al-Bidʿah (the people of innovation and division). For Ahl al-Sunnah show obeisance only to the Messenger. He is their imām: The one they seek to emulate in all religious matters. They show allegiance to those who show allegiance to him, and they show animosity to those who show it to him. They follow the Book of Allāh entirely, believing in everything it contains and completely following its commandments. They regard the best guidance, path, way, and methodology to be that of the Messenger (ﷺ). Whereas Ahl al-Bidʿah appoint for themselves an imām whom they follow, or invent a methodology from themselves which they adopt, showing allegiance and animosity based on these foundations even if they are in clear opposition to the Sunnah. To the extent that they show allyship to anyone who agrees with them despite their great distance from the Sunnah, and they display animosity to anyone who opposes them despite their nearness to the Sunnah.^[2]