“It is a lie; neither al-Husayn nor anyone else is buried there.”

Those who related this to me from Ibn al-Qastallānī reported that he said: “A Christian is buried there.” Indeed, both al-Qurtubī and al-Qastallānī discussed the falsity of the claims concerning this shrine in their writings, explaining that they were fabricated, just as Abū al-Khattāb ibn Dihya had done. It was for Ibn Dihya that al-Kāmil built the Kāmiliyya school of hadith. Abū Amr ibn al-Salāh and others like him learned from him much of what they knew about the correct pronunciation of names and words. Our reliance here is not on any one individual, but on the consensus of these scholars. It is well known that in these lands there was no one whose judgment could be relied upon in such matters who was more knowledgeable or more meticulous than these scholars and their peers.

Since all these scholars agree that this is a lie and a fabrication, it is clear that Allah has absolved al-Husayn of any connection with it.

Trustworthy informants also told me that some of these scholars would instruct their companions not to disclose this view on their authority, fearing harm from the common people in these lands because of the wrongdoing and corruption among them. For they had originally been propagandists for the Qarmatian esotericists, who ruled these lands for two hundred years. They thus instilled in them the traits of heretical hypocrites, ignorant innovators, and lying oppressors—traits that could only be uprooted over time. For these lands were conquered—through the overthrow of ʿUbaydī rule—by the people of faith