whereas he did not mention the disagreements among the ḥadith scholars about such minutiae (1). Yet among them there are controversies over very fine and subtle questions, such as the issue of the lafẓ (pronunciation) of the Qurʾān, the decrease of faith, the precedence of ʿUthmān, certain reports on the divine attributes, the rejection of the term jabr (coercion), and other refined and nuanced points of doctrine.

The purpose here is neither to extol a particular individual or faction nor to censure them unconditionally. The correct position held by Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah is that within a single person—or a single group—there may be good deeds that merit praise, sins that merit blame, and actions that are neither praiseworthy nor blameworthy because they are merely permissible. He is excused for what arises from error or forgetfulness; he therefore deserves reward for his good deeds and deserves punishment for his misdeeds, while for the permissible and excused matters he is neither praised nor blamed. This is the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah (4) concerning the openly sinful among the People of the Qiblah and the like. Those who contest it are the Waʿīdiyyah from among the Khawārij, the Muʿtazilah, and their ilk,
who say: Whoever deserves praise does not deserve blame; whoever deserves reward does not deserve punishment; and whoever deserves punishment does not deserve reward (5)—to the extent that they declare (6): “Whoever enters the Fire will never leave it but will abide therein eternally.” They deny the intercession of Muḥammad—peace and blessings be upon him—for the major sinners, both before their entry into the Fire and afterward, and they deny that anyone will ever emerge from it. Yet the mass-transmitted reports from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—affirm that people will indeed be taken out of the Fire, until Allah, exalted is He, will say:

“Bring forth from the Fire whoever has in his heart even the weight of a mustard seed of faith.” (7)