Imaam Abu Haneefah

He said: “It is not permissible for anyone to follow what we say if they do not know where we got it from.”

According to another report he said: “It is haraam for the one who does not know my evidence to issue a fatwa based on my words.”

and he said: “woe be to you Ya’qoob. Do not write down everything you hear from me, for surely I may hold an opinion today and leave it tomorrow, hold another tomorrow and leave it the day after”

And he said: “If I say something that goes against the Book of Allaah or the report of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), then ignore what I say.”

And he said: “”Adhere to the athaar and the way of the salaf and beware of newly invented matters, for all of it is an innovation.”

He also said: “if a hadeeth is found to be authentic, that is my madhab”

Now, the opposers to the dawah salafiyyah, the dawah of ahl as-sunnah, claim that these statements were only for “Abu Haneefah’s students” which is an absurd saying! As what will the students do with such saying if not act according to them and teach this to their followers!?

Imaam Malik

He said: “I am only human, sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes I get things right. Look at my opinion and whatever is in accordance with the Qur’aan and Sunnah, take it, and whatever is not in accordance with the Qur’aan and Sunnah, ignore it.”

And he said: “There is no one after the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) whose words cannot be taken or left, apart from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).”

Imaam al-Shafi’ee

He said: “There is no one who will not be unaware of some of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Whatever I say or whatever guidelines I establish, if there is a report from the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) which is different to what I said, then what matters is what the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, and that is my opinion.”

according to al-Haakim, Imaam Shafi’ee said: “There is no one among us who has not had a sunnah of Allaah’s messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) elude him or have one slip his mind; so no matter what rulings I have made or fundamental principles I have proposed, there will be in them things contrary to the rulings of Allaah’s messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Therefore, the correct ruling is according to what Allaah’s messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, and that is my ruling.”

He also said: “The Muslims (of my time) were of a unanimous opinion that one who comes across an authentic sunnah of Allaah’s messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not allowed to disregard it in favour of someone else’s opinion.”

al-Haakim also collected from Imaam ash-Shafi’ee a similar statement to that of Imaam Abu Haneefah, that being “If a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, it is my madhab.”

He also said: “If I say something then compare it to the Book of Allaah and the sunnah of His messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and if it agrees with them, then accept it and that which goes against them, then reject it and throw my saying against the wall!”

Imaam an-Nawawi in Tahdheeb al-Asma wa’l-Lughaat mentioned under the biography of Imaam Shafi’ee: “…then he travelled to al-‘Iraaq where he spread the knowledge of hadeeth and he established the madhab of its people – that is the madhab of the Ahl al-Hadeeth.”

Imaam Ahmad said: “Do not follow me blindly and do not follow Maalik or al-Shafi’ee or al-Awzaa’i or ath-Thawri blindly. Learn from where they learned.”

And he said: “The opinion of al-Awzaa’i and the opinion of Maalik and the opinion of Abu Haneefah are all mere conjecture and it is all the same to me. Rather evidence is to be found in the reports – i.e., in the shar’i evidence.”

Ibn Abdul-Barr stated in Jaami’Bayaan al-‘ilm that, “There are no scholars from this ummah to whom a hadeeth of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was established and then they rejected it… If they had done so, their trustworthiness would have been in question, let alone them being taken as Imaams, since doing so (rejecting hadeeth) necessitates sinfulness.”

Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “No one has to blindly follow any particular man in all that he enjoins or forbids or recommends, apart from the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The Muslims should always refer their questions to the Muslim scholars, following this one sometimes and that one sometimes. If the follower decides to follow the view of an imam with regard to a particular matter which he thinks is better for his religious commitment or is more correct etc, that is permissible according to the majority of Muslim scholars, and neither Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al- Shafi’ee or Ahmad said that this was forbidden.”

Ibn al-Qayyim said: in his Qaeedah Nuniyyah:

“If you say “Allaah said, and His Messenger said”
the ignorant one will say “where is the saying of so and so?”

(adapted from the works of Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid and also the book ‘Refutation of Zayd Shaakir’s ‘Introduction to Following a Madhab’‘)