In the name of Allah, and all praise is for Him; to proceed:
I have gathered for you the Salafi hadiths of opinion [ahadith al-ra’y] by which the scholars reject the word of Allah and His Prophet when you recite it to them, so that you may recognize them when they are produced for you and so that you may know that these hadiths are from the hadiths of opinion, not from the hadiths of revelation [wahy].
1. “Do not state a position that no Imam [leading scholar; religious leader] has stated before.”
Yet, they did not say, “Do not state a position that Allah and His Messenger have not stated,” in light of the word of Allah:
“And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.”
Al-Isra’: 36
And in light of the word of Allah:
“Have you any authority for this? Or do you say about Allah that which you do not know?”
Yunus: 68
2. “Produce the statement of one who preceded you so that you may adopt it.”
They did not, however, say, “Produce the statement of Allah and His Messenger so that you may adopt it,” in light of the word of Allah:
“Say, ‘Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us?’”
Al-An’am: 148
And in light of the word of Allah:
“Say, ‘Then bring a Book from Allah…’”
Al-Qasas: 49
3. “Produce for us a single Imam who acted upon your statement so that we may act upon it.”
They did not say, “Produce for us the statement of Allah and His Messenger so that we may act upon it,” in light of the word of Allah:
“Then bring your scripture, if you should be truthful.”
Al-Saffat: 157
4. “Give me an Imam who stated your position or acted upon it in any era so that we may follow him.”
They did not say, “Produce for us the statement of Allah and His Messenger so that we may follow it,” because Allah commanded that His word be followed:
“Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow besides Him any allies.”
Al-A’raf: 3
5. “Your statement is one that none of the Imams nor any of the Salaf [pious predecessors] have said.”
Yet they did not say: “Your statement is one that Allah and His Messenger have not said.”
6. “Are you more knowledgeable or are the Imams?”
They did not, however, ask: “Is Allah more knowledgeable or are the Imams?” This is because Allah commanded a comparison between His knowledge and the knowledge of the scholars, not between the knowledge of various scholars:
“Say, ‘Are you more knowledgeable or is Allah?’”
Al-Baqarah: 140
—and this is asked of you while you are reciting to them the word of Allah, not your own word.
7. “If an aayah [verse] has two established interpretations, do not innovate a third one.”
They did not say: “If the scholars have two interpretations, then ask about the interpretation of Allah and His Messenger, for it will be with one of them,” because the truth is one, and it is the word of Allah.
“That then is Allah, your Lord, the Truth. And what is there after the truth except error? So how are you turned away?”
Yunus: 32
8. “Whoever among the scholars has not reached the rank of ijtihad [independent legal reasoning] must engage in taqlid [blind following a qualified scholar/school] of an Imam’s statement.”
They did not say: “He must ask the Imam about the statement of Allah and His Messenger,” because Allah commanded asking the Imam about the statement of Allah and His Messenger, not about his own statement.
“So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know.”
Al-Nahl: 43
9. “Whoever is a layman [ammi] must engage in taqlid of the mufti’s [one who issues a legal ruling] statement.”
They did not say: “Whoever is a layman must ask the mufti about the statement of Allah and His Messenger,” because Allah commanded the layman to ask the mufti about the statement of Allah and His Messenger, not about his own statement.
“So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know.”
Al-Nahl: 43
10. “If the scholars differ, then engage in taqlid of the scholars of your land.”
They did not say: “If the scholars differ, then ask about the statement of Allah and His Messenger,” because that is what Allah commanded you to follow.
“Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow besides Him any allies.”
Al-A’raf: 3
11. “If the scholars differ, then engage in taqlid of the most knowledgeable among them.”
They did not say: “If the word of Allah in the Qur’an differs from the words of the scholars in the tafsir [exegesis], then follow the word of Allah,” because Allah is more knowledgeable than the scholars.
“And Allah knows, while you know not.”
Al-Baqarah: 216
12. “We interpret the word of Allah by the words of the scholars.”
They did not say: “We do not interpret the word of Allah except by the word of Allah and His Messenger,” because Allah Himself has explained His word:
“And We had certainly brought them a Book which We detailed by knowledge.”
Al-A’raf: 52
And He sent His Prophet with the explanation for His word:
“And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them.”
Al-Nahl: 44
13. “We understand the word of Allah according to the understanding of the Salaf.”
They did not say: “We understand the word of Allah and His Messenger from the word of Allah and His Messenger,” because Allah commanded this:
“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, that they might reflect upon its verses.”
Sad: 29
And He praised this act:
“And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind.”
Al-Furqan: 73
14. “The truth is confined to the four madhahib [schools of jurisprudence] and the sayings of the Imams.”
They did not say: “The truth is confined to the word of Allah in the revelation of the Book and the Sunnah,” because the truth is one, and it is the word of Allah. Allah said in Surah Al-Ahzab:
“And Allah speaks the truth.”
Al-Ahzab: 4
And He said in Surah Al-An’am:
“His word is the truth.”
Al-An’am: 73
Contemplate these fourteen hadiths of Salafiyyah, all of which demand the sayings of scholars—which are mere opinion [ra’y] and assertion [da’wa]—and not the word of Allah and His Messenger, which is clear proof [bayyinah].
Furthermore, they all command adherence to the sayings of scholars—which are opinion and assertion—and are not a command to adhere to the word of Allah and His Messenger, which is clear proof.
Then, you must judge for yourself regarding one who memorizes these hadiths, uses them as evidence to reject the word of Allah and His Messenger, and argues by them: is he from the followers of revelation [wahy] or from the followers of opinion [ra’y]? And is the Lord [Rabb] in these hadiths Allah, or is it the scholar and the Imam?
And the end of our call is that all praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
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Shaykh Muhammad Al-Amari | Preacher in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, KSA