The Sunnah vs. What People Do
It is reported that:
ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Ḥasan used to often sit with Rabīʿah. One day they were revising and studying various practices from the Sunnah when a man in the gathering said, “[But] this is not what is practiced [by the people].” ʿAbdullah said, “So if the ignorant become so numerous that they become the rulers and judges, will they then be a proof over the Sunnah?” Rabīʿah said, “I bear witness that these are the words of the sons of the Prophets.”
Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Al-Faqīh wa Al-Mutafaqqiharticle 384.
Also read
Related sayings.
Fudayl b. Ayyad describes the true scholar (faqih) and what makes him talk, and what keeps him silent.
Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib reports from his father, “I was once sitting with ʿUmar when a group of people arrived from Al-Shām. ʿUmar enquired about them and how they were; he asked, ‘Do the people of Al-Shām hasten to break the fast.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ [ʿUmar] said, ‘They will not cease to remain upon good as […]