Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said:

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

All praise is due to Allah. We seek His help and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil within ourselves and from our evil deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whoever He leads astray, none can guide. We bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

To proceed:

Your letter has reached me. In it, you mentioned informing the shaykh of the envoy’s meeting with me and of the conversation you related to him. You also mentioned that the shaykh said: “Know that, by Allah, I am deeply troubled by how matters came to this”—and so forth.

You also wrote that he said you should meet with the shaykh and reach an agreement with him—on what he himself sees fit and chooses, whether it is as you said or otherwise—then greet him and speak to him:

As for this matter, I have no particular personal aim in it whatsoever. I am merely one of the Muslims: I have the same rights as they do and bear the same obligations,