And this is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah, in contrast to the Khawārij and Mu‘tazilah, and likewise to the Murji’ah and Jahmiyyah. The former incline to one side and the latter to the other, while Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah occupy the middle ground.

Some people hold that such bonds of brotherhood and alliance are sanctioned. This accords with the view that an alliance establishes mutual inheritance rights. Yet Muslims do not dispute that the child of either party does not become the other’s child, inheriting from him alongside his children. Allah, glorified be He, abolished the adoption practised during the pre-Islamic era, whereby a man would adopt another man’s child as his own. Allah Most High said:

“Allah has not placed two hearts within any man’s body, nor has He made your wives whom you declare to be like your mothers your mothers, nor has He made your adopted sons your own sons.”

He also said:

“Call them by their fathers’ names; that is more just in Allah’s sight. If you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in faith.”

Likewise, neither party’s property becomes the other’s property, to be inherited from him; this cannot hold for both parties. However, if each willingly consents to the other’s use of his property, that is permissible, as was the practice of the early generations. One would enter the other’s home and eat his food in his absence, knowing that he willingly consented to this, as Allah Most High said:

“or your friend’s house.”

As for each drinking the other’s blood, this is impermissible under any circumstances. At the very least, besides the blood’s impurity, it entails imitating two people who form a bond of brotherhood to help one another in sin and transgression,