[The People of Hadith Are the Most Entitled of People to Follow]

We find in the Book of Allah, Exalted is He, the sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the reports of his Companions nothing but encouragement to follow and condemnation of affectation and innovation. Whoever confines himself to these reports is among those who follow; he is most worthy of this name, most deserving of this designation, and most particularly marked by this description: “the People of Hadith.” This is due to their close association with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), their adherence to his words, their long companionship with him, their bearing of his knowledge, and their preservation of his every word and deed.

Thus, they received Islam from him directly, witnessed its laws firsthand, and observed its rulings with their own eyes, without any intermediary or messenger between them and him. They kept his company face to face, preserved his words orally, received them fresh from his mouth, and learned them sweetly from his tongue. They believed all of this to be true and embraced it with sincere certainty in their hearts.

This, then, is a religion whose beginning was received directly from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), untainted by confusion or doubt. Thereafter, it was transmitted by trustworthy men from trustworthy men, without flattery or bias; then by the multitude from the multitude, rank after rank, and community from community—hand to hand, each succeeding generation holding firmly to the one before it—like letters following one another, the latter arranged in orderly succession upon the former.