1167 – Abū al-Qāsim ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Baghawī reported to us. He said: ‘Amr ibn Muhammad al-Nāqid reported to us. He said: ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmān reported to us. He said: Abū Shihāb reported to us, from Hamza al-Jazarī, from Nāfi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be rightly guided.”

I say: Among the qualities of one for whom Allah, exalted and majestic, intends good, whose religion He safeguards, and whom Allah the Generous benefits through knowledge are that he loves all the Companions, the household of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the wives of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him; follows their example; does not depart from their positions in deed or word; and does not turn away from their path. If they differ concerning a matter of knowledge, with some saying that it is lawful and another saying that it is unlawful, he considers which of the two views accords more closely with the Book of Allah, exalted and majestic, and the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. If his own knowledge is insufficient, he asks the scholars about it, then adopts that view without departing from a position held by some of them. He asks Allah, exalted and majestic, for safety and invokes His mercy upon them all.

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. In Him I seek help.