Delving into an issue which no Imam has preceded in
Translated by Abbas Abu Yahya
Shaykh ul Islaam Ibn Taymeeyah -Rahimahullaah- said:
» وكل قول ينفرد به المتأخر عن المتقدمين ، ولم يسبقه إليه أحد ؛ فإنه يكون خطأ ، كما قال الإمام أحمد : إياك أن تتكلم في مسألة ليس لك فيها إمام«
‘Every opinion, which a person who comes later stands alone with and not with those who have preceded. And no one has preceded him in that opinion, then that opinion is wrong.
As Imam Ahmad said:
‘Beware of entering into an issue in which you do not have an Imam who has preceded you in it.’
[Majmoo al-Fatawa 21/291]
Shaykh Rabee bin Hadi al-Madkhali was asked:
Question: Is it conditional that every issue has for it someone who has preceded?
The Shaykh answered:
‘Yes, this is the foundation in matters of the Deen, that it is necessary that a person has someone who has preceded him.
In the matters of Aqeedah and matters of Manhaj it is necessary that a person has someone who has preceded him.
The speech of Imam Ahmad -Rahimahullaah- regarding this is well known:
إيّاك أن تتكلم في مسألة ليس لك فيها إمام
‘Beware of entering into an issue in which you do not have an Imam who has preceded you in it.’
Therefore, the issues of the Deen are based upon following and not about innovating. They are based upon the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam and what the Companions of Muhammad alayhi as-Salat wa sallam were upon.
When the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned the doomed sects and the saved sect, the Companions asked which is the saved sect?
He said,
( ما أنا عليه وأصحابي )
‘What I am upon and my Companions.’
The Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said,
من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو ردّ
‘Whoever innovates into this matter [Deen] of ours, which is not from it, then it is rejected.’
Allaah Ta’ala said:
أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاء شَرَعُوا لَهُم مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا لَمْ يَأْذَن بِهِ اللَّهُ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةُ الْفَصْلِ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
《 Or have they partners with Allaah (false gods), who have instituted for them a religion which Allaah has not allowed. And had it not been for a decisive Word (gone forth already), the matter would have been judged between them. And verily, for the wrong-doers, there is a painful torment. 》[Shu’ara:21]
So, from this starting point the Imams of the Salaf battled against all types Bida in worship, in beliefs and methodologies.
[From Sahab.net – http://bit.ly/2HfZhW8 ]