A man asked Imam al-Shāfiī about an issue. He replied, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ruled concerning it thus and thus.” The man then asked al-Shāfiī, “What do you say?” He replied, “Glory be to Allah! Do you see me in a church?! Do you see a Christian girdle around my waist?! I tell you, ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ruled thus,’ and you ask me, ‘What do you say?!’” (1).
Al-Shāfiī also said, “Whenever I relate an authentic hadith from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and then fail to follow it, I call you to witness that I have lost my mind” (2).
Thus, he made no distinction between an individual report and a mass-transmitted report, nor did he distinguish between a report concerning creed and one concerning a practical matter. Rather, everything hinges upon the authenticity of the hadith.
Imam Ahmad said, “Whatever has come from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through a sound chain of transmission, we affirm. If we do not affirm what the Messenger brought, but instead reject and repudiate it, we thereby reject Allah’s command. Allah Most High says: ‘Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you from, refrain from it (7).’ [al-Hashr: 7]” (3).