for those who came after them from within the ummah until the Day of Resurrection.

This, in itself, is part of Allah’s preservation and special care for this religion: He raised up trustworthy custodians who conveyed it exactly as it came from Allah and His Messenger, who refuted the distortive interpretations of the falsifiers and the anthropomorphic comparisons of those who liken the Creator to the creation, and who passed this creed down—successor from predecessor—generation after generation.

Among the righteous predecessors who remained firmly upon the creed transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his Companions, and the Followers were the four leading Imams—Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam al-Shafi‘i, and Imam Ahmad—together with other scholars who undertook the defense, clarification, codification, and teaching of the creed.

The disciples of the four Imams likewise devoted themselves to this creed: they studied it together, preserved it, taught it to their pupils, and produced numerous writings on it, all in accordance with the Qur’an and the Sunnah and with what the Chosen Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, and the Followers were upon. They rebutted false and deviant beliefs and exposed their futility. The same effort was carried out by the foremost scholars of hadith—such as Ishaq ibn Rahuyah, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Imam Ibn Khuzaymah, and Imam Ibn Qutaybah—and by the major exegetes, including Imam al-Tabari, Imam Ibn Kathir, Imam al-Baghawi, and others.

They went on to compose works on this subject, which they referred to as “Books of Sunnah,” such as the book