but if he is known to be lying, he is reproved. If there is doubt about him, both acceptance and censure are withheld until his situation becomes clear, just as with someone who gives testimony or is accused of theft. If his truthfulness and uprightness become evident, the testimony is accepted and it is handed over to them. If his lying and dishonesty become evident, the testimony is rejected and he is punished for theft. If the matter remains uncertain, judgment is withheld, for the believer pauses and seeks clarity. This is what al-Hasan al-Basrī said.

The same applies when someone neglects obligatory duties, presenting himself as overcome and unable to perform them—for example, when he neglects prayer, presenting himself as being like someone unconscious or asleep who is unable to perform it. This may happen to some who collapse under an overwhelming experience of fear of Allah, love of Him, or something similar, losing their discernment and becoming unable to pray. The obligatory duties he neglects are thus comparable to the forbidden acts he commits. Accepting his state, in the sense of refraining from blame, may mean judging him to be excused, or it may mean refraining from judging him blameworthy.

This concerns words and deeds known beyond doubt to contravene the revealed law, such as the ecstatic outbursts reported from certain shaykhs. One example is Ibn Hūd’s statement:

“When the Day of Resurrection comes, I will pitch my tent over Hell.”

Another is al-Shiblī’s practice of shaving his beard and tearing his clothes, until they admitted him to the hospital twice. There is also the statement attributed to one of them:

“If you have a need, come to my grave and seek help through it.”

Other examples include one person’s abandoning Friday prayer behind a righteous imam because he had supplicated for the ruler of his time and called him just; another’s abandoning prayer behind an imam because of what had been disclosed to him of that imam’s inner thoughts; and what is related about the rational madmen, of whom it was said:

“Allah gave them intellects and spiritual states, then took away their intellects and left