Hadith no. 3: “The Best Understanding of the Proofs is With the Sahabah.” 40 Hadith in Clarification of the Madhhab of the Salaf, that is the Madhhab of Ahlul-Hadith

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All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon his Messenger, his family, his Companions and all who truly follow him.

3. The Best Understanding of the Proofs is With the Sahābah

قَالَ الْعِرْبَاضُ صَلَّى بِنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْنَا فَوَعَظَنَا مَوْعِظَةً بَلِيغَةً ذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ وَوَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَأَنَّ هَذِهِ مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَمَاذَا تَعْهَدُ إِلَيْنَا فَقَالَ أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ عَبْدًا حَبَشِيًّا فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ بَعْدِي فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيرًا فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ الرَّاشِدِينَ تَمَسَّكُوا بِهَا وَعَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الأُمُورِ فَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ 

Al-ʿIrbād Ibn Sāriyah (Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) led us in Prayer one day, then he turned to us and gave us a powerful exhortation that caused our eyes to shed tears and our to tremble. Some said: ‘O Allah’s Messenger! This felt like a farewell exhortation, so with what do you instruct us?’ So he replied: “I enjoin upon you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey the one in charge of your affairs, even if it is an Abyssinian slave. Indeed, whoever among you lives after me will see much differing and controversy, so upon you is to cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me—hold on to it tightly, and bite onto it with your molar teeth—and beware of the newly introduced matters for verily every introduced matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.” (Abu Dawood no. 4607, graded saheeh by Imām al-Albānī)