—all that the prophets brought; and whatever is reported from them whose transmitter is not known to be truthful or false, do not affirm it and do not deny it.

Since our community has no need to take from any prophethood other than that of Muhammad, it is even more needless of the Muḥaddathūn. The peoples who came before us required their prophets, and therefore they may also have required the Muḥaddathūn. Whatever the nations need by way of divine reports must of necessity be preserved and protected from error, so that the proof may stand and the purpose of the call be fulfilled. This shows the necessity of the infallibility of what the prophets brought, and of what our Prophet brought after his death. Allah has preserved the Reminder that He sent down. He revealed to him the Book and the Wisdom—the Wisdom being the Sunnah—so Allah safeguarded both; to Him belong all praise and favor.

Anyone in this community who feels a need for something beyond what the Messenger brought does so only because his knowledge of, and adherence to, the Messenger’s guidance are weak. Many, for example, claim that they need the Israelite reports and other accounts of the People of the Book; others say they require the wisdom of Persia, Rome, India, Greece, and the rest of the nations; still others insist that they need their own tastes, intellects, or opinions without measuring any of that against the Book and the Sunnah.

You will not find anyone who says he needs something other than the Prophet’s legacy except one deficient in knowledge and in following his footsteps. By contrast, whoever upholds what is contained in the Book and the Sunnah gains mastery over the knowledge of both earlier and later generations, and Allah enriches him with the light with which He sent Muhammad, leaving him in need of nothing else.