Indeed, this is also found among the followers of the leading jurists and foremost teachers of devotion, such as the followers of Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfi‘ī, Mālik, Ahmad, and others. You will find that a follower continually encounters statements of theirs that he considers false, yet hesitates to reject them because he believes his imam to possess greater reason, knowledge, and religious commitment than himself. This is despite every such follower knowing that the imam he follows is not infallible and may err.
You will not find any of them saying:
“If my statement conflicts with that of the imam I follow, I give mine precedence without qualification.”
Yet if it sometimes becomes clear to him that the truth lies in the opposite of his imam’s statement, or that the opposing view carries greater weight, he gives it precedence, believing that his imam may err.
How, then, can it be claimed that Allah’s Book and the authentic Sunnah reliably transmitted from His Messenger contain things that Zayd and ‘Amr know, through their own reason, to be false? Or that anyone who finds something reported by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, unclear should give his own opinion precedence over the Messenger’s text concerning accounts of the unseen? Most of those who have ventured into these matters relying solely on their own opinions have gone astray, without seeking direction through Allah’s guidance or illumination through the light with which He sent His messengers and revealed His books. This is despite everyone knowing his own limitations and failings in this field, and the confusion into which his associates and others have fallen.
In short, the established texts of the Quran and Sunnah are never contradicted by a clear rational argument. They are opposed only by what contains ambiguity and confusion. What is known to be true cannot be contradicted by something confused and ambiguous whose truth has not been established.
Indeed, we make this universal statement: the texts reliably transmitted from the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, have never been contradicted by any unequivocal rational argument, much less by one that should take precedence over them. Rather, what