whatever they introduce, provided that their innovation does not amount to misguidance. Should any one of them devise a deviant innovation, he has thereby left the community of the qiblah and defected from the faith. One draws near to Allah—Exalted is He—by renouncing him: he is to be shunned, despised, and his contagion avoided, for it is more infectious than the scab of mange.

The Companions

16 – We affirm the precedence of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ successor, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him); he is the finest and most virtuous of creation after the Prophet ﷺ. Next we honor al-Fārūq, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him), for the two of them were the Prophet’s ﷺ ministers, his companions in the grave, and his companions in Paradise. Third we acknowledge the “Possessor of the Two Lights”