19 — Ibn ‘Abd al-Hamīd also informed us, saying: Zuhayr ibn Muhammad narrated to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Harb informed us, saying: Hammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from ‘Āsim al-Ahwal, who said: Abū al-‘Āliya said:

“Learn Islam. Once you have learned it, do not turn away from it. Hold fast to the straight path, for it is Islam. Do not veer from the path to the right or the left. Adhere to the Sunnah of your Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and to what his Companions followed. Indeed, we had been reading the Quran ⦗301⦘ for fifteen years before they did what they did. Beware of these deviant views, which sow enmity and hatred among people.”

He said: I related this to al-Hasan, who said, “He spoke truthfully and gave sincere counsel.” I also related it to Hafsa bint Sīrīn, and she asked, “My son, have you related this to Muhammad?” I replied, “No.” She said, “Then relate it to him.”

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn said: The mark of one for whom Allah wills good is that he follows this path: the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the ways of his Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and of those who followed them faithfully, and the way followed by the imams of the Muslims in every land, down to later scholars such as al-Awzā‘ī, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Mālik ibn Anas, al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, and all who followed a path like theirs. He must also avoid every doctrine condemned by these scholars. We shall explain what they approve of, if Allah Most High wills.