his Mukhtasar (1): “This is a book I have abridged from the knowledge of Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Shafi‘i (2) for anyone who wishes to know his school, while also informing him of al-Shafi‘i’s prohibition (3) against blindly following him or any other scholar.”
Imam Ahmad (4) said: “It is not fitting for the jurist to force people to adopt his school, nor to be harsh with them.”
He also said (5): “Do not entrust your religion to men, for they will never be immune from error.”
If this is what they declared concerning practical matters (6) and the subsidiary issues of the religion—refusing to oblige people to follow their own schools (7) even though they supported those schools with scriptural proofs—then how much more unacceptable is it to compel and coerce people to affirm statements that are found neither in the Book of Allah, nor in any hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, nor transmitted from the Companions, the Followers, or any of the imams of the Muslims?
For this reason Imam Ahmad (8) said to Ibn (9) Abi Du’ad (10), the Jahmi who was Chief Judge during the reign of