We dont follow people because they appear to be pious or “inspired by God”, we do not follow people due to some miracles they seem to possess, we do not follow people who appear to be intellectual, we do not follow people just because our forefathers had, we do not follow people because they align with our personal opinions.

Muslims follow revelation, just as Allah intended for mankind.

But what does this mean when there are many sects that interpret the Quran and sunnah differently?

Those who branched off fell into the mistakes i listed above, they ended up misinterpreting revelation based off of their limited knowledge and bias. Some will claim they were inspired by Allah and innovate new ideas, while we all know that there could never be new revelation after the prophet’s death. Some will claim they have a more advanced way of thinking, when we know that they could never compare to those closest to the source of knowledge. And so on.

We are able to know what’s authentic by how the prophet and his companions understood the matter. They lived with the prophet, they struggled, and wept with him. And he molded them into becoming the inheritors of knowledge, which was passed to the next best generation and so on. Through them, Allah preserved the Quran and Sunnah after the prophet’s death. Yet those who are filled with desires and lack humility neglect their status.

So hold on firmly to the methodology of the pious predecessors and do not follow innovations.