Innovations and Deviations:

The reason for this correspondence is that one of the brothers arrived with a sheet on which he had written mention of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), of the noble masters of Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet’s household), and of vows made to the shrine of al-Muntaẓar (the Awaited One). He was then addressed concerning the virtues and rights of Ahl al-Bayt in a manner that gladdened his heart and opened his breast. Yet what was expressed covered only part of what is obligatory, for the topic is extensive and the bearer could not accommodate more than that.

He was likewise advised on matters of lineage and vows in a way demanded by the religion of Allah, whereupon he requested that these points be put in writing for whichever of the brethren he might visit. For the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Religion is sincere counsel.” They asked, “For whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “For Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common folk.” 1

As for the sheet concerning genealogies and dates, it contains errors in several places—for example, it claims that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed away in the month of Ṣafar; that his lineage is “Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allah son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib son of ʿAmr son of al-ʿAlāʾ son of Hāshim”; and that Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq died during the caliphate of al-Rashīd—along with other mistakes.

There is, however, unanimous agreement among the scholars that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed away in the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal—the very month of his birth and of his migration; that he died on a Monday, was born on a Monday, and that revelation was first sent down to him on a Monday. His grandfather Hāshim is the son of ʿAbd Manāf; Hāshim’s given name was ʿAmr, and he was called: