So I say: Glory be to You! This is a monstrous slander and a brazen lie from this sinful fabricator, for he knows full well that we hold the very opposite position—something printed in many of my writings, especially in the introduction to my book Sifat Salat al-Nabi ﷺ min al-Takbir ila al-Taslim kaʾannaka tarāhā (The Prophet’s Prayer ﷺ Described, from the opening takbīr to the concluding taslīm as though you see it), an introduction that runs to fifty-nine pages. It has been reprinted numerous times over the years, and Abū Ghuddah is certainly aware of it. Yet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke the truth: “If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.”

There is no harm, then, in quoting from that introduction what suits the present context. I said there (p. 26), after apologizing on behalf of Abū Ḥanīfa—may Allah have mercy on him—for those instances in which he unintentionally differed from certain sound hadiths, while instructing his followers, in many authentic statements from him, to act upon whatever sound hadiths reach them:

“I said: If this is Abū Ḥanīfa’s excuse for the occasions on which he inadvertently opposed authentic hadiths—and it is an excuse that is wholly acceptable, for Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity—then it is impermissible to disparage him on that account, as some ignorant people do. Rather, one must show proper respect to him, for he is an imam of the Muslims, through whom this religion has been preserved and by whose efforts many of its subsidiary rulings have reached us. He will be rewarded in every case, whether he was right or wrong. Likewise, it is impermissible for those who venerate him to persist in clinging to his statements that contradict the hadiths, because such positions are not truly part of his school, as you have seen from his own words. These people are in one valley and those in another, while the truth lies between them: ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not place in our hearts any rancor toward those who believe. Our Lord, You are indeed Most Kind, Most Merciful.’ (Qur’an 59:10)”

This is only a portion of what I wrote there in praise of the imams who are followed, in defense of some of them, and concerning the stance that ought to be