al-Shāfi‘ī, as explicitly recorded from him, is such-and-such.” He cited a view that he himself and every scholar knew al-Shāfi‘ī had never expressed. The other two judges made similar attributions to Abū Hanīfa and Mālik.

When that judge was challenged, he was asked: “Where did you find this view you have attributed to al-Shāfi‘ī?” The point was that al-Shāfi‘ī had never said this. He replied: “This is the view of rational people, and al-Shāfi‘ī was a rational man who would not disagree with rational people.”

I have seen writings by various groups among these people in which they attribute to the imams of Islam positions that no one has transmitted from them,