up to His words, ‘or make a mistake.’ Allah said, ‘I have done so.’ ‘Our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us.’ He said, ‘I have done so.’ ‘Our Lord, do not burden us with what we have no strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people.’ He said, ‘I have done so.’”

Allah Most High also says:

“There is no blame upon you for what you do by mistake, but only for what your hearts deliberately intend.”

It is authentically established in the two Sahīhs, in narrations from Abū Hurayra and ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“When a judge exercises independent judgment and is correct, he has two rewards; if he errs, he has one reward.”

Thus, he did not deem someone sinful for erring in the exercise of independent judgment. Rather, he granted him a reward for his effort and declared his error forgiven. However, someone whose independent judgment is correct receives two rewards and is therefore superior to him.

Since an ally of Allah may make mistakes, people are not obliged to believe everything an ally of Allah says; otherwise, he would be a prophet. Indeed, an ally of Allah may not rely on what is cast into his heart, or on experiences he regards as inspiration, communication, or an address from the True One, unless it accords with the revealed law. Rather, he must assess all of this against what Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought. If it agrees with that, he accepts it; if it contradicts it, he does not accept it. If he does not know whether it agrees or contradicts, he must suspend judgment.

In this matter, people fall into “three categories”: two extremes and a middle course. Some, once they believe that a person is an ally of Allah, agree with him in everything they think has been communicated