and Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (1) likewise transmitted—through the chain preserved by Shaykh al-Islam: “Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Faqih of Marw (2) narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ‘Umayr narrated to us; Abu Yahya Zakariyya ibn al-‘Allaf al-Tujibi in Egypt narrated to us; (3) Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la narrated to us; Ashhab ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz related to me that he heard Malik ibn Anas say:
‘Beware of innovations.’
It was asked, ‘Abu ‘Abd Allah, what are innovations?’
He replied, ‘The people of innovation are those who speculate about the names and attributes of Allah, about His speech, His knowledge, and His power, and who refuse to remain silent regarding matters about which the Companions and their righteous followers remained silent.’
Both narrators (4) also reported what Shaykh Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman likewise cited: “Muhammad ibn Ja‘far narrated to us; (5) Ibn Matar narrated to us; I heard Shukr; I heard Abu Sa‘id al-Basri; I heard Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi (6) say:
‘I entered upon Malik while a man was asking him about the Quran. Malik said, “Perhaps you are one of the followers of ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd. May Allah curse ‘Amr, for he invented these innovations of kalam; had kalam…’”