Likewise, concerning Shaykh Abū Ahmad Muhammad ibn ʿAlī al-Karajī, the jurist and imam known as al-Qassāb, and his interpretation of the verses and reports concerning the dead person’s awareness of punishment—an interpretation he expounds at length in his book Nukat al-Qurān (Subtle Points of the Quran)—and his view that, after being questioned, the deceased perceives neither the length of his stay in the intermediate state nor the punishment, we say: This is an interpretation unique to him, in which the imams did not follow him. The position to be accepted is that held by the majority. His holding isolated views on particular questions does not adversely affect or detract from the standing of these imams.

The excuse for any of our imams who held an isolated view on a particular question, from the time of the Companions and their Successors down to our own day, is expressed in the saying: “Every scholar has his lapse, every sharp sword its failed stroke, and every noble steed its stumble.” The same excuse applies to every imam who holds an isolated view on a particular question throughout the ages. Nevertheless, the widely recognized position is that held by the majority.