-
So these (1) doctrines and (2) statements that I have set out constitute the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah, the people of tradition (3), the transmitters of reports and bearers of knowledge whom we encountered, from whom we received hadith and learnt the Sunnah. They were well-known imams, reliable, people of (4) truth and (5) trustworthiness, worthy of being emulated and taken as sources. They were never people of innovation (6), nor of discord or confusion. This is also the position of their own imams and scholars who preceded them. Therefore, hold fast to it—may Allah have mercy on you—(7) learn it and teach it (8); success is granted by Allah.
-
The innovators, by contrast, have derisive (9) epithets, titles, and names that bear no resemblance to the names of the righteous, (10) the imams, or the scholars of the Ummah of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him. Among their names are:
• al-Murjiʾah: they are those who claim that faith is a statement without action, and that faith