and the West that no one has written works on monotheism and the foundations of religious knowledge comparable to mine. Those who attribute to me anything contrary to what is in my published works, which have reached distant lands in the East and the West, are liars and evildoers.’”

Shaykh al-Islām also said: Ahmad ibn Hamzah informed me: Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—that is, Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī—narrated to us, saying: “I have been told that one of Abū ‘Alī al-Jawzānī’s companions asked him, ‘What is the path to Allah?’ He replied, ‘The soundest and most fruitful path, and the furthest removed from doubt, is to follow the Quran and Sunnah in speech, action, belief, and intention, for Allah says: “If you obey him, you will be guided.” [Surah al-Nūr 54]

‘He then asked him, “How does one follow the Sunnah?” He replied, “By shunning innovations, following what the earliest generation of Muslim scholars and believers agreed upon, keeping away from gatherings of speculative theology and its adherents, and adhering to the way of following and emulating those who came before. This is what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was commanded to do in the words of the Most High: ‘Then We revealed to you: Follow the religion of Abraham, who was devoted to Allah alone.’ [Surah al-Nahl 123]”’”