And the latter is illustrated by the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“I have not forgotten, nor has the prayer been shortened.” Dhū al-Yadayn said to him, “Yes, you have forgotten.”

The distinction—and Allah knows best—seems to be that someone who makes a statement while neglecting the means of determining whether he is right or wrong, and consequently errs, is called a liar, unlike someone who has not been negligent. This is because (1) he spoke recklessly, without proof or evidence, and erred, unlike someone who reports something without negligence.

“This distinction can also be applied to someone who swears to something, believing it to be as he has sworn, but it proves otherwise: if he swears recklessly, without any basis to rely upon—for example, someone who swears that this is a crow, or that it is not a crow, without any supporting grounds whatsoever, and is then shown to be mistaken—[then this person breaks his oath, and that person breaks his oath just as this one does, even if he is unaware of his error and even if he is correct; this is the question of his swearing that he is in Paradise]. This is like saying that a mufti who gives a ruling without knowledge sins even if he is correct. The same applies to someone who prays towards the direction of prayer without making an effort to determine it, and to someone who interprets the Quran according to his own opinion.” (*)

For this reason, you find these people among the most untruthful in their reports. Indeed, lying is no different from telling the truth in their eyes, so they use it as needed and do not mind making two contradictory statements about the same thing. You also find that their actions follow their desires: they likewise perform contradictory deeds when one happens to take priority at one time and the other at another.

They always side with whoever commands obedience, whether he is a believer or an unbeliever, righteous or wicked, a man of utmost truthfulness or a heretic. Although the Tatars before their conversion to Islam shared this trait with them, they were better than them in matters of assertion. The Tatars do not make two contradictory assertions about divine matters. Rather, one of them either believes something on the basis of knowledge or imitation, or holds no belief at all. But as for combining