their insight and sound grasp of religion, and to his remark, quoting some Hanbalī scholars, that “any statement that the act is merely disliked must refer to something other than this.”

It is as though he is pointing to al-Shāfiʿī’s words, “I dislike that a mosque be built over a grave…,” the full passage of which I cited earlier ⦗42⦘.

Al-Shāfiʿī’s followers hold the same position, as shown in al-Tahdhīb and its commentary al-Majmūʿ. What is strange is that they adduce some of the very ḥadiths mentioned above in support of their view, even though those texts plainly declare the practice unlawful and curse the one who does it. Had they taken “disliked” to mean “prohibited,” the matter would have been close; but for them it denotes mere propriety, so how can a ruling of “disliked” be reconciled with the very ḥadiths they cite for it?

I say this, even though I do not dismiss the possibility that the term “disliked” in that particular statement of al-Shāfiʿī should be understood as “prohibited,” for that is the legal sense intended in Qurʾānic usage, and there is no doubt that