And Muhammad ibn Humayd is considered weak by hadith scholars when he supplies a chain of transmission. How much more so when he relates, without a connected chain, an account known only through him—and that is assuming it is established that he related it at all. Mālik’s followers agree that a report of this kind cannot establish any opinion attributed to Mālik on a question of jurisprudence. Indeed, when Syrian narrators such as al-Walīd ibn Muslim and Marwān ibn Muhammad al-Tātārī transmit from him, they regard their reports as weak, relying instead on the transmissions of the Medinan and Egyptian narrators. How, then, could they accept an account that contradicts Mālik’s established position in several respects, transmitted by a Khurasanian who never met him and whom hadith scholars consider weak?

Moreover, the statement,

“He is your means of approach to Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and that of your father Adam, peace be upon him,”

indicates only that Adam and his descendants will seek to draw near to Allah through him on the Day of Resurrection. This means seeking to draw near to Allah through his intercession on that Day, and this is true, as the authentic hadiths relate. On the Day of Resurrection, people will come to Adam to ask him to intercede for them. Adam will direct them to Noah, Noah to Abraham, Abraham to Moses, Moses to Jesus, and Jesus to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. For, as he said:

“I am the foremost of Adam’s descendants on the Day of Resurrection, and I say this without boasting. Adam and all those below him will be under my banner on the Day of Resurrection, and I say this without boasting.”

Nevertheless, this account contradicts Mālik’s established position in several respects:

(First: the question,

“Should I face the qiblah and supplicate, or should I face the Messenger of Allah and supplicate?”

and the reply,

“Why would you turn your face away from him, when he is your means of approach to Allah, and that of your father Adam?”

The established position of Mālik, the other imams, and the rest of the early generations—the Companions and their successors—is that, after greeting the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, anyone wishing to supplicate for himself should face the qiblah and supplicate in his mosque. He should not face the grave while supplicating for himself. Rather, he faces only