—and is even more at ease with it than with what is reported from some of the Successors, for it is more likely that the Companion heard the report directly from the Prophet (Allah bless and grant him peace) or from someone who heard it from him. Moreover, the Companions transmitted far less from the People of the Book than did the Successors; and when a Companion speaks with such certainty, how could anyone claim that he took the report from the People of the Book when they themselves had been forbidden to endorse those sources?

What matters, therefore, is that disagreements of this sort—where the correct view is unknown and rehearsing the various opinions brings no benefit—are like the reports attributed to the Prophet for which no evidence of authenticity exists: knowledge of them is inconsequential.

As for the first category, in which the sound view can in fact be determined, this material is available wherever there is a genuine need for it, and all praise is due to Allah. It is common to find in tafsir, in hadith collections, and in the accounts of the Prophet’s campaigns matters ascribed to our Prophet or to other prophets (peace and blessings be upon them all) that a rigorously sound chain of transmission overturns. The same is true of issues whose only basis is transmitted report as well as of matters that can be verified by means other than transmission.

In short, with regard to the transmitted reports that the religion truly needs, Allah has established proofs that clarify which of them are sound and which are not. It is well known that most of what is transmitted in tafsir resembles what is transmitted about the campaigns and the apocalyptic battles. For this reason Imam Ahmad said, “Three subjects have no isnad: tafsir, apocalyptic narratives, and the military campaigns.” He is also reported to have said, “They have no root,” meaning no chain of transmission, because the majority of what is related in these areas is mursal—such as the material narrated by ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, al-Shaʿbi, al-Zuhri, Musa ibn ʿUqba, Ibn Ishaq, and those who followed them.