Question:

Your Eminence, the Sheikh—may Allah grant you success—says this questioner: Does the statement of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), “Everyone’s speech can be accepted or rejected, except for the occupant of this grave,” apply only to jurisprudential matters subject to Ijtihad (independent reasoning), or does it include matters of creed (Aqeedah) as well?

Answer:

Matters of creed do not have [room for] disagreement; they are not an area for acceptance and rejection, because they are established matters built upon divine revelation and textual restriction (Tawqeef). Rather, this [statement] applies to matters of jurisprudence: every person’s statement is accepted if it agrees with the evidence, and rejected if it contradicts the evidence. This is what Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) intended. Yes.