Is it permissible to test people's beliefs by inquiring about their opinion of contemporary figures, and to base loyalty and disavowal upon this answer? And can any contemporary figure be considered like Imam Ahmad or Malik, in that one can distinguish the follower of the Sunnah from the innovator by their statement concerning them?

A Muslim loves those who work for Islam, considering them his brothers in God, and he dislikes their mistakes. His love and hatred, his loyalty and enmity should be in accordance with the command of Allah and His Messenger. He should not divide the Ummah by testing it with things Allah has not commanded, for Allah Almighty has named us Muslims, believers, servants of Allah. A Muslim must avoid the people of innovation who propagate it, and he must know the truth through evidence, not through individuals. He should not abandon benefiting from the books of scholars due to the presence of some errors therein, because error is inherent in anyone who is not infallible; rather, what matters is the predominance of their good deeds. A Muslim must observe the rules for judging Muslims before deeming someone an innovator or an apostate, such as knowledge, free choice, and the absence of interpretive error.