The famous Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751H / 1350 CE) on the Principle of Charitable Interpretation:

“The great scholar is dear to us, but the truth is dearer to us than he. One does not unconditionally accept the words of anyone other than God’s Prophet. We look for the best possible meaning for their words, then clarify [the problematic aspects] in it.”

[Madarij al-Salikin, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, 1416/1996), 2/38]

The ‘great scholar’ (shaykh al-islam) he is referring to is the Hanbali Sufi Abu Isma`il al-Harawi (d.  481H / 1088CE).