Hadith
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “What I have prohibited for you, avoid it. What I have commanded you, do it as much as you can. Verily, those before you were ruined only due to their excessive questioning and contradicting their prophets.”
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَافْعَلُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ فَإِنَّمَا أَهْلَكَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ كَثْرَةُ مَسَائِلِهِمْ وَاخْتِلَافُهُمْ عَلَى أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ
Sahih Al-Bukhari 7288, Sahih Muslim 1337
Ponder This Hadith
The Prophet ﷺ reduces religion to a clear method: obey what he commands, avoid what he prohibits, and do not complicate the faith through contradiction or excess questioning. If obedience were meant to be mediated through a living Imam, why does he present his own commands as the final reference point – and warn that deviation from this simplicity led previous nations to ruin?