knowledge, and replace it with some other opinion voiced by a scholar—on the assumption that that scholar might possess something with which to rebut the proof, however learned he may be. Error infiltrates scholars’ opinions far more readily than it does the revealed proofs, for the latter are Allah’s binding argument against all His servants, whereas a scholar’s personal judgment is not.

A legal proof cannot possibly be wrong so long as no counter-proof confronts it, whereas a scholar’s view enjoys no such guarantee. Were it lawful for us to conduct ourselves on the basis of this conjecture, scarcely any proof would remain in our hands to which such doubt could not be attached. The point, however, is that the scholar himself may be excused for leaving the report aside, while we are equally excused for refusing to adopt his abandonment.

Allah, Exalted is He, has said: “That was a nation which has passed away; it shall have what it earned, and you shall have what you earn, and you will not be questioned about what they used to do” (1), and He has said: “If you differ over anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day” (2).

Accordingly, no one is entitled to oppose an authentic hadith of the Prophet ﷺ with the statement of any human being, just as Ibn ʿAbbās declared.