Section
100. One must realize that the sound reports by which the attributes of Allah, exalted is He, are established are only those rigorously authenticated narrations transmitted by upright, trustworthy authorities—reports that the early generations accepted, conveyed, and neither rejected nor disputed. As for the fabricated hadiths invented by zindiqs (heretical subversives) to confuse the Muslims, or the weak hadiths—whether their weakness stems from unreliable transmitters, their obscurity, or some other defect—it is impermissible to invoke them or to base any belief upon them; their existence is as good as non-existence. Whatever the zindiqs have forged is no more than statements they have attributed to themselves.

101. Whoever possesses expertise in this field is obliged to follow the authentic reports and discard all others. Whoever is an ordinary Muslim must imitate the scholars and ask them, for Allah, exalted is He, says: “So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know” (al-Nahl 16:43). If the matter remains unclear to him and he finds no one to consult, he should withhold judgment and say, “I believe in whatever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has said,” affirming nothing further. Should the report truly be from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he will have believed in it; and if it is not, then he has not believed in it. The same principle is reflected in the Prophet’s ﷺ words: “When the People of the Book relate something to you, neither affirm it nor deny it; rather say, ‘We believe in what has been sent down to us and what has been sent down to you.’”