Abdur-Rahmaan al-Hirfi said, ‘And it is not known that the Shaikh [i.e., Ibn Baaz] ever sought revenge for himself. In fact, I heard a man say to him, ‘O Shaikh! I’ve backbitten you, so free me from it [i.e., forgive me].’ So the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, ‘My back is halaal for every Muslim.’ Indeed, in one of his general talks it was said to him, ‘Shaikh so and so says you are an innovator. What do you say?’ So he said, ‘He is a mujtahid scholar!’

Mawaaqif Mudee’ah, p. 116.