call to prayer, during every prayer, and upon entering and leaving any mosque, unlike anyone else. This is because of his exalted standing and elevated rank. Allah has distinguished him with an excellence shared by no one else, so that his grave should not be treated like other graves. Rather, a distinction is drawn between them in several respects, making clear his superiority over others and the blessings Allah has bestowed upon his community.

Another point is his statement:

“It does not follow from his claim that there is consensus on its prohibition that the noble Companions, together with the Successors and the subsequent scholars qualified to exercise independent judgment, were violating consensus, persisting in endorsing what is forbidden, committing through their own actions and legal rulings what it is impermissible to undertake, agreeing upon misguidance, and following the path of blindness and ignorance.”

These words display ignorance of the Sharia and of what the Muslims have agreed upon, and equate worship of the Most Merciful—which the believers unanimously uphold—with worship of idols—which they unanimously prohibit. These and other aspects demonstrate that this statement contains various forms of opposition to the religion of Islam. If its author understood what he said and its implications, he would be an apostate who must be put to death. But he is ignorant and may speak of what he does not grasp, while grasping its implications. Thus, he and others like him—who suppose that the answer contains something contrary to consensus—are to be told: