five matters that stand among the gravest of sins. The first is sheer fabrication against the Prophet ﷺ: he claims that the Prophet enjoyed radiant faces and neatly trimmed beards, that the sight of a disfigured person frightened him, and that the image of dread inspired by the Companions of the Cave remained fixed in his mind so that whenever he saw someone with a thick beard he would recall them. He even alleges that the Prophet ﷺ could not bear to look at such a person. All of this is pure slander against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and it is mass-transmitted from him that he said, “Whoever deliberately lies about me, let him take his seat in the Fire.”

The second is his disparagement of the Prophet ﷺ, for he portrays him as cowardly and weak in mind and heart. This is evident in his assertion that the terrifying image of the Companions of the Cave stayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and that whenever he saw a man with a dense beard he recalled their appearance and could not endure it. If that were true, it would follow that every individual Quran-reciter is braver than the Prophet ﷺ, for they continually recite Allah’s words about the Companions of the Cave: “Had you looked at them, you would surely have turned away in flight and been filled with dread of them” (18:18), yet the verse is repeated each time they read Surah al-Kahf without their hearts being seized by fear, let alone the image remaining fixed in their minds. So will this ignorant writer claim that