Knowledge is none other than the word of Allah and His Messenger.

Therefore, if this is how the scholars have viewed blind-following, it means that scholars who are able to ascertain the truth through evidence are not permitted to speak on jurisprudence except in accord with what is found in the Book and the Sunnah. True, reliable knowledge lies only in them, not in the opinions of men. For that reason Imām al-Shāfiʿī said in al-Risālah (p. 41, no. 131–132):

“It is incumbent upon people of knowledge to speak only on the basis of what they know. Some who have spoken on matters of knowledge would have done better—and been closer to safety, God willing—had they kept silent about part of what they said.”

He said elsewhere (p. 39/120): “No one is ever entitled to declare something lawful or unlawful except on the basis of knowledge, and knowledge is derived from a report in the Book, the Sunnah, consensus, or analogy.”