by those who know, just as a skilled assayer cannot confuse pure gold with adulterated gold. Allah Most High has made the proof clear and the path plain through Muhammad, the last of the messengers, the finest of the prophets, and the best of all Allah’s creation.

The scholars are the heirs of the prophets. It is their duty to explain what the Messenger brought and refute whatever contradicts it. A scholar must therefore “first” know what the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—actually said, for fabricated hadiths are numerous. One person associated with religious scholarship has written a work on this question and similar matters, including all manner of false reports attributed to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and the Companions, by which the ignorant are deceived. He did not deliberately lie; rather, he loves and reveres the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—but lacks the expertise to distinguish truth from falsehood. When he finds that an author writing about the merits of particular places or other subjects has attributed a report to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—or to the Companions, he assumes it is authentic and builds upon it, although that report is weak, or even fabricated, according to those well versed in his Sunnah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Once a scholar has distinguished what the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said from what he did not say, he must understand his intent, grasp the meaning of his words, bring the hadiths together, and consider related reports alongside one another. He must thus bring together what Allah and His Messenger have brought together and distinguish between what Allah and His Messenger have distinguished. This is the knowledge that benefits Muslims and that must be received and accepted. Through it, the imams of the Muslims attained their eminence, including the four imams and others