698 — Abū Bakr Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Firyābī narrated to us, saying: al-Husayn ibn ʿAlī al-Hulwānī narrated to us in Tarsus in 233 AH, saying: I heard Mutarrif ibn ʿAbd Allah say: I heard Mālik ibn Anas say—whenever those who had deviated in religion were mentioned in his presence—“ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, may Allah have mercy on him, said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and those entrusted with authority after him laid down sunnahs. Adhering to them means following the Book of Allah, mighty and majestic is He, completing one’s obedience to Allah, and gaining strength to uphold the religion of Allah Most High. No created being has the right to alter or replace them, nor to consider anything that contradicts them. Whoever is guided by them is rightly guided; whoever seeks aid through them will be aided; and whoever abandons them follows a path other than that of the believers. Allah will leave him to what he has chosen and burn him in Hell—what an evil destination!’”

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, may Allah have mercy on him, said: A great many people narrated this hadith from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through well-established lines of transmission recognized by scholars. If someone asks, “Who narrated it from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?” ⦗1129⦘ it is said: Abū Hurayra narrated it from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī likewise narrated it; ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd likewise narrated it; ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀs likewise narrated it; ʿUbāda ibn al-Sāmit likewise narrated it; Rifāʿa al-Juhanī likewise narrated it; and Jubayr ibn Mutʿim likewise narrated it. All of these, and others besides them, narrated it from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the same meaning. We shall cite their narrations with authentic chains of transmission that scholars do not reject.