Sunan ad-Darimi

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud and Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they were both sitting when a man came and asked them about something. Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him): Do you know why these people ask me about this thing? He said: Perhaps they want to find out and then leave it? Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) turned towards him and said: Whatever you have asked about, and we have knowledge of it from the Book of Allah, we have informed you of it, or whatever we found in the Sunnah of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we have told you, and as for the new things you have invented, we do not have the power to give a verdict about them.

Nazzal bin Sabrah said: I was present at every sermon that Sayyiduna Abdullah (Ibn Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered in Kufa. One day I heard him being asked about a man who gave his wife divorce eight times. He replied: As many as he said have taken effect. Indeed, Allah Almighty has revealed His Book and has explained it. Now, whoever acts according to it, Allah Almighty has made it clear for him, and whoever opposes it—by Allah, we do not have the power to oppose like you (do).

Nazzal bin Sabrah said: I went to Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and a man and a woman came to him with an issue regarding prohibition (i.e., divorce). He said: Indeed, Allah Almighty has made it clear; whoever acts exactly according to this clarification, the ruling is clear, and whoever acts contrary to it, we do not have the power to give a fatwa according to your contrary action.

Ash'ath said: Ibn Sirin would not say anything from his own opinion; he would only say what he had heard.

A'mash said: I never heard Ibrahim say anything about any matter based on his own opinion.

Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "For thirty years, I have not said anything based on my own opinion." Abu Hilal mentioned forty years.

It is narrated from Abdul Aziz bin Rafi that someone asked Ata (may Allah have mercy on him) about something, so he replied «لا أدري» "I do not know." He was asked, "Will you not say anything even from your own opinion?" He said: "I feel shy before Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, that my statement should be followed on the face of the earth."

Imam Sha’bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man came and asked about something. I said, “Sayyiduna Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says such and such about this.” He said, “What is your opinion?” Sha’bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Are you not amazed at this man? I told him that Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says this, and he says, “Tell me your opinion,” even though my method (i.e., narrating the opinions of others) is more preferable to me. By Allah, I would rather go around singing songs than express my own opinion.

Imam Sha’bi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Beware of conjecture. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you engage in conjecture, you will surely make the unlawful lawful and the lawful unlawful. Therefore, act upon what has reached you from the preserved traditions of Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) companions.

Alqamah said: A man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said that he had given his wife eight divorces last night. He asked: All at once? He said: In one statement. He asked: Do they want to separate your wife from you? He said: Yes. The narrator said then another man came who had given his wife a hundred divorces. He asked: All at once? He said: Yes (that is, he said, I have given a hundred divorces). Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: So people, considering it an irrevocable divorce, want to separate your wife from you. He replied: Yes. So Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever gave divorce according to the command of Allah Almighty (one by one), Allah Almighty has explained it, and whoever mixed things up, we have left him to that confusion. By Allah, you make the mess, should we bear its burden? Now the decision is as you have made it, that is, (the divorce is irrevocable).

Qasim said: After knowing Allah Almighty’s right upon himself, if a man lives as an ignorant person, then this is better for him than to say something about what he does not know.

Ayyub said: I heard Qasim, he was asked, so he said: By Allah, we do not have knowledge of all the things you ask us about, and if we had knowledge, we would neither hide it from you nor would it be permissible for us to hide it.

Abdullah bin Awn said: Qasim (bin Muhammad al-Faqih) was asked about something, so he said: I neither need advice nor am I worthy of it.

Yahya said: I said to Qasim, "It is very hard for me that someone asks you a question and you express ignorance about it, even though your father was the Imam of the time." He replied, "It is even harder and more severe (a harsher matter) with Allah and with those who have understanding about Allah, that I should give a fatwa without knowledge or narrate something from an unreliable narrator."

Musayyib bin Rafi’ said that when people faced an issue about which there was no narration from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), then all of them would gather for it and consensus (ijma’) would be established, and the truth is what their opinion would be; the truth is that upon which they established consensus.

From another chain, ‘Awwam bin Hawshab has also mentioned similarly.

Wahb bin Amr Jumahi narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Do not be hasty before the calamity descends. If you do not hasten before its descent, then the Muslims will not be relieved from it as long as there remains among them a person who, when he speaks, speaks with guidance, correctness, and truth. But if you act hastily in it, your opinions will differ and you will be seized in this way," and he gestured with his hands to the right and left.

Yahya bin Hamzah said that Sayyiduna Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about a matter which was neither in the Qur'an nor in the Hadith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The devout believers will contemplate about it."

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Awn, Qasim bin Muhammad said: You people ask about such matters regarding which we did not use to ask questions. And you people argue about such things regarding which we did not use to argue. You inquire about such things that I do not know what they are, and if I had known, it would not have been permissible for us to conceal them from you.

Sayyiduna Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Soon there will come people who will argue with you about the mutashabihat (ambiguous) verses of the Qur'an, so you should take hold of them with their hadiths, because the people of the Sunnah have a very good knowledge of the Book of Allah.

Urwah bin Zubair said: There was moderation established among the Children of Israel and there was nothing against the Shariah among them. Then, when a new generation and the offspring of captives and slave women from other nations came, they introduced their own opinions into the religion and led them astray.