Imam ash-Shafi'i, kamar malaminsa Malik, ya nuna a fili ba tare da wata shakka ba cewa a lokacin hakan ba zai yiwu ga kowa ba205

Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee, like his teacher Maalik, pointed out in no uncertain terms that it was not possible for anyone at that time205

Don ya zama sanin dukkan Hadisai da aka ruwaito daga Manzon Allah ﷺ, ko kuma ya tuna duk Hadisan da ya taba ci karo da su, don haka sun kasance cikin hadarin yanke wasu hukunce-hukunce da ba daidai ba. Wannan yana nufin cewa hanya kadai mai tabbas kuma abin dogaro, wadda za a iya amfani da ita a kowane hali don tantance abin da yake daidai da abin da ba haka ba, ita ce Sunnar Manzon Allah ﷺ. Malamin Hadisi al-Haakim ya tattara maganar ash-Shaafi'ee inda ya ce: "Babu wani daga cikinmu da Sunnar Manzon Allah ﷺ ba ta taba boye masa ba, ko kuma ta fita daga zuciyarsa; saboda haka, duk abin da na yanke na hukunce-hukunce ko na gabatar da ka'idoji, za a samu a cikinsu abubuwan da suka saba wa hukunce-hukuncen Manzon Allah ﷺ. Don haka, hukuncin daidai shi ne abin da Manzon Allah ﷺ ya fada, kuma wannan shi ne hukuncina."206

to be aware of all the Hadeeths which were narrated from the Prophet (s.w.) or to remember all Hadeeths which he had encountered, therefore, they were bound to make some wrong judgements. That meant that the only firm and reliable method, which could be utilized under all circumstances to decide what was correct and what was not, was the Sunnah of the Prophet (s.w.). The Hadeeth scholar al-Haakim collected a statement of ash-Shaafi’ee in which he said, “There is no one among us who has not had a Sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger (s.w.) elude him or have one slip his mind; so no matter what rulings I have made or fundamental principles I have proposed, there will be in them things contrary to rulings of Allaah’s messenger (s.w.). Therefore, the correct ruling is according to what Allaah’s messenger (s.w.) said, and that is my ruling.”206

Imam ya kuma jaddada wani muhimmin batu game da ra'ayin kai da Sunnah. Ya ce, "Musulmai (na zamanina) sun kasance a kan ra'ayi guda cewa duk wanda ya ci karo da Sunnah ingantacciya ta Manzon Allah ﷺ, ba a halatta masa ya watsar da ita don neman ra'ayin wani ba."207 Wannan batu yana ratsa zuciyar Taqleed kai tsaye, wanda daya daga cikin ginshikansa shi ne watsi da Sunnah don ra'ayin Madhhab.

The Imaam also stressed a very important point concerning personal opinion versus the Sunnah. He said, “The Muslims (of my time) were of a unanimous opinion that one who comes across an authentic Sunnah of Allaah’s messenger (s.w.) is not allowed to disregard it in favor of someone else’s opinion.”207 This point strikes at the very heart of Taqleed which has as one of its pillars the rejection of the Sunnah for the opinion of the Madh-hab.

Al-Haakim kuma ya tattara daga Imam ash-Shaafi'ee irin wannan magana da Imam Abu Haneefah ya yi game da alakar madhhabinsa da hadisai ingantattu: "Idan an tabbatar da cewa hadisi sahihi ne, to shi ne madhhabina."208

Al-Haakim also collected from Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee the same statement made by Imaam Abu Haneefah concerning the relationship between his Madh-hab and authentic Hadeeths, “If a Hadeeth is found to be Saheeh (authentic) it is my Madh-hab.”208

Irin wannan tsayuwa mai ƙarfi ce wannan babban Imam, wanda yayin da yake Baghdad ya rubuta littafi mai suna al-Hujjah a matsayin taƙaitaccen Madhhabinsa, sannan ya juya ya rubuta sabon littafi mai suna al-Umm, wanda ke wakiltar sabon Madhhab da ya kafa bayan ya yi tafiya zuwa Masar, ya kuma sami sabon ilimi daga Madhhabin Imam al-Layth ibn Sa'd.

Such was the uncompromising stand of this great Imaam who, while in Baghdad, wrote a book called al-Hujjah as a summary of his Madh-hab, only to turn around and write a new book called al-Umm, representing the new Madh-hab which he formed after journeying to Egypt and acquiring new knowledge from the Madh-hab of Imaam al-Layth ibn Sa’d.