any misguidance (2), and that whoever the Muslims judge to be a libertine, a hypocrite, or a purveyor of falsehood is indeed as they judge. If one group of the ummah declares a man deviant, another praises and exalts him, and a third withholds judgment out of caution, then he is someone to be left alone: his affair should be consigned to Allah, and, in general terms, forgiveness should be sought for him. His Islam is certain and original, whereas his deviation is merely conjectural. By adopting this stance you will find relief, and your heart will be cleansed of rancour toward the believers.
Next, know that all those who face the qiblah—whether upright or sinful, Sunni or innovator—apart from the Companions, have never unanimously agreed that any individual Muslim is definitively saved, nor have they unanimously agreed that any Muslim is definitively doomed. Consider al-Ṣiddīq, the solitary exemplar of the ummah; you know how opinions about him have differed. The same applies to ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ibn al-Zubayr, al-Ḥajjāj, al-Maʾmūn, Bishr al-Marrīsī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Shāfiʿī, al-Bukhārī, al-Nasāʾī, and so on among notable figures—whether for good or for ill—down to your own day. There is no imām complete in goodness without some ignorant or innovating Muslims censuring and belittling him, and there is no leader in
(2062) and Ibn Majah (1491).
Al-Bukhari also records the report (3/182; 5/185), as do al-Tirmidhi (1059) and al-Nasaʾi (4/51), through the chain of Abu al-Aswad al-Dili. He said: “I came to Madinah when an epidemic had struck and people were dying in large numbers. I sat with ʿUmar – may Allah be pleased with him. A funeral procession passed by and the deceased was praised, so ʿUmar said, ‘It is assured.’ A second passed and the deceased was praised, and ʿUmar said, ‘It is assured.’ A third passed and the deceased was criticized, and he again said, ‘It is assured.’
I asked, ‘What is assured, Commander of the Believers?’ He replied, ‘I merely repeated what the Prophet ﷺ said: “Any Muslim for whom four people testify to goodness, Allah admits him to Paradise.” We asked, ‘And three?’ He said, ‘And three.’ We asked, ‘And two?’ He said, ‘And two.’ We did not ask him about one.”
(2) The hadith “My community will never agree upon misguidance” is transmitted by al-Tirmidhi (2167) and al-Hakim (1/115) from Ibn ʿUmar; by Abu Dawud (4253) and Ahmad, Musnad (6/397) from Abu Basrah al-Ghafari; by Ibn Majah (3950) and al-Hakim (1/116-117) from Anas; by Ahmad (5/145) from Abu Dharr; and by al-Hakim (1/116) from Ibn ʿAbbas. Although each chain has been criticized, their combined evidence strengthens the hadith. See al-Maqasid al-Hasanah, p. 460.