and Abū Hāmid, and others like them who departed from his principles on certain points, you will find that they are esteemed only for those matters in which they agree with the sunnah and hadith. Most of this they adopted from al-Shāfi‘ī’s school of jurisprudence, which accords with the sunnah and hadith, and from what they stated concerning the foundations of religion that accords with the sunnah and hadith, together with their refutation of what contradicts the sunnah and hadith. It is on this basis that they claim adherence to the sunnah and lay claim to it; otherwise, that claim would not be valid.

The Rāfida (Rejectionists) and the Qarmatians—their scholars and rulers—had gained strength in the early days of Seljuk rule, until they took control of Syria and Iraq. They removed the caliph al-Qā’im from Baghdad to Tikrit and imprisoned him there during the well-known uprising of al-Basāsīrī. The Seljuks subsequently came, defeated them, conquered Syria and Iraq, subdued them in Khurasan, and confined them to Egypt.

During their rule, there were ministers such as Nizām al-Mulk and scholars such as Abū al-Ma‘ālī al-Juwaynī. Through upholding the sunnah and refuting the innovations of these groups and others like them, they attained a standing within the Muslim community commensurate with those efforts.

Likewise, the later followers of Mālik who agreed with him, such as Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī, the judge Abū Bakr ibn al-‘Arabī, and others like them, are esteemed only for their agreement with the sunnah and hadith. As for the great scholars, such as Ibn Habīb, Ibn Sahnūn, and others like them, they belong to a different category altogether. Likewise, Abū Muhammad ibn Hazm, in his writings on religions and sects, is praised only for his agreement with