to the people, confronting every meddling whisperer. They safeguarded the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, and they strove in the path of Allah so that the word of Allah might stand supreme.

The Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

"The stars are a security for the sky; when the stars disappear, what has been threatened for the sky will befall it. I am a security for my Companions; when I depart, what has been threatened for my Companions will befall them. My Companions are a security for my ummah; when my Companions depart, what has been threatened for my ummah will befall it." (1)

Then came those after them—their righteous Successors. In their time innovations and newly-invented practices spread more widely than before, so they crushed them with proof and evidence and fought them with the sword and the pen.

In the same way, every scholar-leader of religion and guardian of creed who followed in their footsteps continued to repel the distortions of false claimants—emulating their predecessors of old and, above all, obeying the command of the Lord of all worlds to defend the precincts of the call of the Chosen One—peace and blessings be upon him. Allah, Exalted is He, said:

"And when Allah took a covenant from those who had been given the Scripture: ‘You shall make it clear to the people and not conceal it…’" (2)

How excellent, therefore, are the words of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in the preface to his book Refutation of the Jahmiyyah and the Heretics: "Praise be to Allah who, in every period in which there is a gap between messengers, leaves behind remnants of the people of knowledge. They call those who have gone astray back to guidance and patiently endure their harm…"