The remainder of the wording—whatever form it may have taken—if deemed authentic, would either belong to the seven modes of recitation or to passages whose public recitation was later abrogated. On either supposition, the arrangement of the rest of the verse could well provide no proof of a muḥaddath’s infallibility; rather, it would speak of annulling what Satan casts into the trust of a Prophet or Messenger, not that of a muḥaddath. And even were it established that God used to erase what Satan placed in the hearts of the muḥaddathūn of earlier communities, that would not mean such erasure came to them by direct revelation; instead, the matter would be weighed against the revelations of the prophets, and anything at odds with them would be rejected.

Hence the safekeeping of a walī lies in following the Book and the Sunnah. There is no doubt about the Sunnah’s saving power. Al-Zuhrī, relating from the earliest scholars of the believers, said, “Those who came before us used to say, ‘Holding fast to the Sunnah is salvation.’” Imām Mālik declared, “The Sunnah is Noah’s Ark: whoever boards it is saved, and whoever stays behind drowns.”

If, for the sake of argument, a muḥaddath among earlier peoples had whatever Satan cast into him erased without reference to prophetic guidance, then those peoples would have been unconditionally commanded to follow that muḥaddath, because God had granted him immunity. We, however, have not been commanded to do so. The reason is that the nations before us were not sufficed by a single prophethood; they received parts of their religion from one prophet and other parts from another, each confirming the other. Thus the prophets of the Children of Israel were charged with following the Torah, and the Messiah made lawful for them some things that had been forbidden while referring them, in most rulings, back to the Torah.

By contrast, the Prophethood of Muḥammad—peace and blessings be upon him—is sufficient for his community, as the Exalted has said:

“Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Surely in that there is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe.” (Q 29:51)