whatever suited them they pronounced sound—or at the very least acceptable—even though it was intrinsically weak. We shall bring further examples of this later, and Allah’s help is sought.

As for their interpretation of the ḥadīth, al-Ghumārī proposed several flimsy explanations, the strongest of which is his statement: “Its outward sense has been unanimously abandoned, for the imams agree that leveling a grave is disliked and that raising it by roughly a handspan is recommended.”

I reply: How astonishing that a man who claims to practice ijtihād and forbids taqlīd should twist the ḥadīths and force-interpret them so that, in his view, they conform to the jurists’ opinions—whereas sound ijtihād demands precisely the opposite!

Moreover, the ḥadīth in question is not at odds with the consensus he cites, for it pertains specifically to a grave upon which a structure has been built; in that case it must be leveled with the ground, as al-Azhār has already stated. The agreement of the imams concerns only the original state to be observed when the deceased is first buried—that the grave be raised slightly—and that is not what the ḥadīth addresses, as the reader has already seen.