and were commanded to worship in the mosque, it is clear that the special merit of deeds performed there derives from their being performed in his mosque, just as one prayer in his mosque is worth a thousand prayers elsewhere. He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—never commanded that any righteous deed be deliberately performed at his grave.

Another point is his blatant fabrications against the respondent in numerous passages. His reason for fabricating these allegations is that the respondent cited the views of Muslim scholars and favored the position of Mālik and others among the early generations, because the authentic, explicit Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—supports their position. Such conduct entails enmity toward Allah and His Messenger, for whoever opposes his Sunnah, his law, and his religion has opposed him. Whoever bears enmity toward someone on that account is, in reality, bearing enmity toward the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—even if he does not intend this. How, then, can repeated lies and fabrications be permissible when their falsehood is plain? Even if the respondent were mistaken, this would not be permissible, for lying and fabrication are forbidden without exception. Allah has required everyone to be truthful and just toward everyone else, in every circumstance.

How much worse, then, when the views cited by the respondent are those of people who follow the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while the objector disparages them and their statements, insults those who believe in the Messenger, obey him, and follow him, and declares them unbelievers for the very things that constitute following the Messenger and believing in him! This statement of his entails enmity toward the Messenger, toward what he brought, and toward those who follow him, even if he is unaware of what his statement entails. Thus, despite his lack of knowledge, his statement is of the same kind as the statements of those who oppose Allah and His Messenger and ally themselves with the people of