therefore, you must hold fast to the Sunnah, for—by Allah’s leave—it is your safeguard. Know that whoever instituted the Sunnah did so fully aware of the error, slips, excess and folly that lie outside it. The early generations, acting on sure knowledge, stopped where they were meant to stop; with penetrating insight they refrained, and although they were the strongest of people in their ability to investigate, they chose not to. ⦗1⦘

Muhammad ibn Sīrīn—may Allah have mercy upon him—said, “They used to say, ‘If a man is following the trace, he is on the path.’” ⦗2⦘

Al-Awzāʿī—may Allah have mercy upon him—said, “We revolve with the Sunnah wherever it revolves.” ⦗3⦘

Abū l-ʿĀliyah ar-Riyāḥī said, “Learn Islam; once you have learned it, do not turn away from it. Keep to the Straight Path—for the Straight Path is Islam—and do not deviate from it to the right or to the left. Hold fast to the Sunnah of your Prophet, and beware of these passions that sow enmity and hatred among their followers.” ⦗4⦘