the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on so momentous a matter, would he consider it permissible to do so without regarding it as established, having heard it from an unknown person, a liar, or someone with a poor memory?

Moreover, the agreement of the early scholars—such as ‘Atā’ ibn Abī Rabāh, Habīb ibn Abī Thābit, al-A‘mash, al-Thawrī, and their companions—in transmitting this report and similar ones, with no objection to such reports heard from anyone at that time, even though these varied narrations were likely to be widely known, demonstrates that the scholars of this community did not object to saying without qualification that Allah created Adam in the image of the Most Merciful. Rather, they agreed on making such statements. There are parallels to the reluctance of some of them to transmit this at certain times: some ignorant people may be kept from hearing something even though it is agreed upon among Muslim scholars.

Furthermore, Allah has described this community as the best nation brought forth for mankind, and as enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. It is therefore impossible