It is reported that Al-Shaʿbī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Stay away from the sinful amongst the scholars and the ignorant amongst the worshippers, for these two are the calamity of everyone who would fall into fitnah.
Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān ḥadīth 1753.
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Opinion in religion, devoid of evidence, is rubbish to be thrown away. Adherence is to what comes from Rasulullah – praise and peace of Allah be upon him.
It is reported that Al-Sha’bī said, “The only people who used to seek this knowledge were those who combined two characteristics: intelligence and devout worship. If a person was intelligent but not devout, it would be said that only the worshippers can attain this [knowledge], and so he would not try to seek it. And […]
The status of personal opinion in the face of what has come from the Companions.