Can The Definition Of ( الصَّالِحُونَ) In Nisai (5401) Be Extended Beyond Sahabah?
Sounds like a sound advice, it is not a religious commandment. While doing ijtihaad, any reasonable scholar should always see how righteous are doing something with matters of new application and study their logic and reach a conclusion after considering the overall framework of Quran and Sunnah.
The point I wanted to make is that many Muslims groups present Hadith from Nisai (5401) as “Hujjat” (حجت ) to follow the ruling of Imams, who came centuries after the times of Sahabah (الصَّالِحُونَ) , the Sahabah whose righteousness is witnessed by Qur’an. Hence any ruling given by Sahabah (الصَّالِحُونَ) may be a religious Hujjat” (حجت ) but Imam’s who came centuries after the times of Sahabah (الصَّالِحُونَ), their ruling can not be a religious Hujjat” (حجت ). Today if we come across an issue where we do not find clear answer from Qur’an and Sunnah (pbuh) than we still try get guidance from acts of Sahabah and if necessary we will study arguments and logic made by later Imams and scholars to reach a conclusion.