the Roman, and others like them among the impostors.

Now, although an ordinary Muslim is not held liable by Allah for slips of memory or genuine mistakes—and even the Messenger himself, according to the salaf, the leading scholars, and the great majority of Muslims, is not taken to task for forgetfulness or error in matters that do not pertain to his conveyance from Allah—nevertheless, no mistake whatsoever may remain in what he transmits on Allah’s behalf. For if it were admissible that he deliver something Allah never said, and that this statement endure uncorrected so that people accept it from him believing Allah indeed said it—while Allah had not—such a situation would defeat the very purpose of the mission. In that case he would not be Allah’s Messenger in that matter; he would, rather, be a liar therein, even if unintentionally.

Moreover, if he were to attribute to Allah what Allah did not say and yet be believed, then someone who speaks falsehood about Allah—claiming He said what He never said—would have been accepted as truthful, even though he had no deliberate intent to deceive. It is impossible that Allah would endorse such a person in everything he reports from Him, or furnish him with signs and evidentiary miracles attesting to his veracity in all that he conveys, when the reality is otherwise. On the contrary, the one for whom the proofs and signs establish his truthfulness in what he delivers from Allah is truthful in everything he reports from Allah; it is inconceivable that his report about Allah contain any falsehood, whether deliberate or accidental. This is a matter upon which all people—Muslims, Jews, and Christians—are agreed.