Being in compliance with the Book and the Sunnah
Translated by Abbas Abu Yahya
Al-Hafidh Abu Shamah al-Maqdisi -Rahimahullaah- (d. 665 A.H.) said:
فَالْوَاجِب على الْعَالم فِيمَا يرد عَلَيْهِ من الوقائع وَمَا يسْأَل عَنهُ من الشَّرَائِع الرُّجُوع الى ما دل عَلَيْهِ كتاب الله الْمنزل وَمَا صَحَّ عَن نبيه الْمُرْسل وَمَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّحَابَة وَمن بعدهمْ من الصَّدْر الاول فَمَا وَافق ذَلِك أذن فِيهِ وَأمر وَمَا خَالفه نهى عَنهُ وزجر
‘What is obligatory on a scholar, in that which he has to return to, regarding religious matters and what he is asked about from the Sharia’ : is that he returns to that which is indicated to in the Book of Allaah which has been revealed and that which is authentic from His Prophet who was sent, and that what his Companions were upon and those after them in the first generation so what is in agreement with that, is allowed and is commanded with, and whatever opposes the Book, the Sunnah and the Companions then he prohibits that and refutes it.’
[Taken from ‘al-Baith ala Inkaar al—Bida’ wal Hawadith p.9-10]