In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, together with his family and every one of his Companions.

Imam Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Kasani related—from Abu Bakr ‘Ala’ al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Samarqandi—who said: Abu al-Mu‘in Maymun ibn Muhammad ibn Makhul al-Nasafi informed us; he was informed by Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Kashghari, nicknamed al-Fadl; who said: Abu Malik Nasran ibn Nasr al-Khutli narrated to us, from ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Ghazal, from Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ahmad al-Farisi. Nasir ibn Yahya the jurist then recounted: “I heard Abu Muti‘ al-Hakam ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Balkhi say:

Among the foundational principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama‘ah is this: I asked Abu Hanifah al-Nu‘man ibn Thabit—may Allah be pleased with him and with them—about al-Fiqh al-Akbar, and he replied, ‘Do not pronounce anyone who faces the qiblah an unbeliever on account of a sin, nor expel anyone from the faith.’"