the Government Press edition or any other. Indeed, the error even slipped past the commentator Ibn ʿAllān himself, so he interpreted the ḥadith as though it referred only to the heart! He writes (4/406): “That is to say, the Exalted does not apportion reward on the basis of the largeness of one’s body, the beauty of one’s form, or the abundance of one’s deeds!” Such an explanation is manifestly false, for besides contradicting the ḥadith in its sound wording it clashes with the many Qur’anic and Sunnah texts which state that people’s ranks in Paradise vary according to the quantity and quality of their righteous deeds. Among them is His saying: “For all there are degrees according to what they used to do” (al-Anʿām 6:132); and His statement in the sacred ḥadith: “…O My servants, it is only your deeds that I record for you, then I shall repay you for them. Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah…” (Hadith 113). How could anyone imagine that Allah would dismiss deeds as He dismisses mere bodies and forms, when deeds—after faith—are the very basis for entering Paradise? He, the Exalted, says: “Enter Paradise for what you used to do” (an-Naḥl 16:32). Reflect on how far taqlid (blind imitation) removes its practitioners from what is right, hurling them into a deep abyss of error. All of this stems from their neglect of the Sunnah as found in its reliable, critically edited primary sources. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

A similar mistake occurs in his citation of Muslim’s ḥadiths (364, 457) narrated by Anas, where on line five it reads: “innī lā abkī innī la-aʿlam (I am not weeping; I certainly know…).” That wording appears in both places but is incorrect. The correct text is: “mā abkī an lā akūna aʿlam (I am not weeping because I do not know),” as found in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (7/145). Ibn Mājah’s version (1635) reads: “She said, ‘I know that what is with Allah….’” This would match the wording in the book were it not for the intrusive phrase “I am not weeping,” which ruins the meaning, as is plain. A similar phrasing appears in the mursal report of ʿIkrimah recorded by al-Dārimī (pp. 22–23, Indian edition): “She said, ‘By Allah, I am not weeping over…’”