that what he has chosen is better than what he has turned away from—is not of me. For the best speech is the speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as an authentic report states that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would proclaim in his Friday sermons.

Whoever says that someone else’s guidance is better than the guidance of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has succumbed to temptation; indeed, he is astray. Allah Most High said—honouring him and affirming his proof against all mankind:

“So let those who oppose his command beware, lest a trial befall them or a painful punishment afflict them.”

That is, a punishment that causes pain. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded Muslims to follow him, to regard as obligatory what he made obligatory and as recommended what he favoured, and to believe that nothing is better than this. Whoever does not believe this has disobeyed his command. In Sahīh Muslim, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Those who go to excess are ruined.” He said this three times.

That is, those who impose strictness where strictness is unwarranted. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and Ibn Masʿūd said: “Moderation in following the Sunnah is better than strenuous effort in following an innovation.”

No one may invoke the gathering of people for tarāwīh (Ramadan night prayers) as an argument, saying:

“What an excellent innovation this is!”

For it is an innovation in the linguistic sense, because they did something they had not done in this form during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; yet it is a Sunnah prescribed in Islamic law. The same applies to expelling Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and founding towns such as Kūfa