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The same applies to dividing the Muslim community and testing its members on matters that neither Allah nor His Messenger has commanded—for example, saying to a man, “You are a Shakīlī or a Qarfandī.” These are false names for which Allah has sent down no authority. Neither Shakīlī nor Qarfandī appears in Allah’s Book, in the Sunnah of His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—or in the well-known reports from the early imams.

When a Muslim is asked about this, he must say: “I am neither a Shakīlī nor a Qarfandī. Rather, I am a Muslim who follows Allah’s Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger.”

We have transmitted a report from Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān that he asked Abdullāh ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—“Do you follow the religion of Alī or the religion of Uthmān?”

He replied: “I follow neither the religion of Alī nor the religion of Uthmān. Rather, I follow the religion of Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

Likewise, the righteous predecessors would all say: “All these sectarian ways lead to the Fire.” One of them would say: “I am not concerned with which of the two blessings is greater: that Allah guided me to Islam, or that He kept me away from these sectarian ways.”

Allah Most High has called us Muslims, believers, and servants of Allah in the Quran. We must therefore not turn away from the names Allah has given us to names introduced by certain people—names they and their forefathers have devised—for which Allah has sent down no authority.