“Beware of speaking on a matter in which you have no imam to follow.” During the ordeal, he would say: “How can I say what has never been said before?” Ahmad’s adherence to the Sunnah and the transmitted reports, his eagerness to follow them, and his aversion to opposing them are established through numerous independent reports, known to scholars and ordinary people alike who are familiar with his life.

As for their assertion that fear of Allah necessarily restrains a person from all sins, the answer is that someone may recognize the wrongfulness of one sin but not another, and repent only of what he knows to be wrong. He may (also) know that both are wrong, yet his desires overpower him regarding one but not the other, so he repents of this one but not that one. This is like someone who fulfils some obligations but not others: what he fulfils is accepted from him.

The Mu‘tazilah, however, have a false principle in which they agree with the Khawārij in their judgment, although they differ from them in the designation they use. They say that those who commit major sins will remain in the Fire forever and will not leave it through intercession or anything else. In their view, it is impossible for Allah to punish a person and then reward that same person. Hence, they maintain that a major sin nullifies all good deeds.

The Companions and Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah, however, hold that those who commit major sins will emerge