and the path Muslims have followed. After the Book of Allah Most High, these reports were their guide in religion: from them they drew knowledge; by them they judged and issued religious rulings; upon them they relied; and with them they adorned themselves. Each generation passed them down to the next, and those present conveyed them to those absent, citing them as evidence and seeking Allah’s reward by conveying them to those who had not heard them. They called them Sunnah, transmitted reports, religious understanding, and knowledge. They travelled east and west across the earth in search of them. Through them they declared lawful what Allah Most High had made lawful and forbidden what He had forbidden. Through them they distinguished truth from falsehood and Sunnah from religious innovations. They used them as evidence in explaining the Quran, its meanings, and its rulings, and through them they recognized the error of those who strayed from guidance.

Whoever turns away from them is only turning away from the reports and guidance of the early generations. He seeks to oppose them so that he may shape his religion according to his desires and interpret Allah’s words according to his own opinion, contrary to what Allah intended by them. If you are among the believers and follow the way of their predecessors, then draw knowledge from their reports, seek guidance along their path, and accept these reports as your guide, just as those people accepted them as their own guide. For, by my life, you are not more knowledgeable about the Book of Allah than they were, nor are you even their equals. Rather, you are further astray and more ignorant. It is impossible to follow their example except by following these reports as