Yet there is another matter—one that can easily be rectified—that we seldom bring to the Muslims’ attention or remind them of: making religion a matter of blind imitation (taqlīd) and setting aside the clear texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. That same impassioned preacher who thunders against man-made systems, if you were to show him that one of his own views contradicts a verse or hadith, would at once retreat to the authority of his madhhab as proof, unaware—sadly—that in doing so he is undermining the very principle he called people to uphold. Allah says: “The only response of the believers, when they are summoned to Allah and His Messenger so that he may judge between them, is to say, ‘We hear and we obey.’ Such are the successful” (Q. 24:51).

He ought, therefore, to hasten to accept the textual evidence he has just been reminded of, for that is true knowledge; retreating to taqlīd is nothing but ignorance.

The second point is this: cultivate within yourselves a rank that is obligatory, attainable, and easy for every Muslim—though it falls short of the rank of ijtihād and rigorous scholarly verification, which only a select few can reach. I mean the rank of following the Messenger ﷺ exclusively, each of you according to his capacity. Just as you single out Allah alone in worship, so must you single out the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in your imitation: your object of worship is One, and your exemplar is One. Thus you realize in practice the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

So, dear brothers, condition yourselves to believe in every hadith that has been proven authentic in your estimation from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—whether it concerns creed or practical rulings—regardless of whether it is endorsed by the Imām whose school you grew up following because of your environment, or by another of the Imāms of the Muslims. And do not adopt any principle among those