the Messenger, doing what he commanded and refraining from what he warned against.

Whoever posits a path to Allah other than following the Messenger, whether for the elite or the common people, disbelieves in Allah and His Messenger. This includes anyone who claims that among the foremost friends of Allah, scholars, philosophers, speculative theologians or kings are those who have a path to Allah Most High other than following His Messenger. In support of this, they cite fabricated reports containing the gravest disbelief and falsehood.

For example, some claim that the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sought permission to enter upon the People of the Portico, but they said, “Go to those to whom you were sent as a messenger.” Others claim that, on the morning following the Night of the Ascension, they told him the secret that Allah had confided to him, and that Allah had informed them of it without the Messenger telling them.

Others claim that they fought against him alongside the disbelievers in some of his military campaigns, saying, “Whomever Allah is with, we are with.” Such claims are among the gravest forms of disbelief and falsehood.

Likewise, some invoke the account of al-Khidr and Moses, peace be upon him, as evidence that certain friends of Allah can dispense with Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, just as al-Khidr dispensed with Moses. Others claim that the Seal of the Friends of Allah has a path to Allah by which he can dispense with the Seal of the Prophets. Such claims have become widespread among many who profess asceticism, spiritual poverty, Sufism, speculative theology and philosophy. The disbelief of these people may be of the same kind as that of the Jews and Christians, or it may be