And a group of those who claim adherence to the Sunnah and hadith argue in these matters on the basis of fabricated hadiths and invented accounts known to be false. They may even invoke weak reports against strong ones. Many Sufis and faqīrs base their views on dreams, subjective spiritual experiences, and imaginings that they believe to be unveilings, though these are imaginings that do not correspond to reality and false illusions.

“They follow nothing but conjecture, and conjecture avails nothing against the truth.”

We therefore say:

As for the sources of Islamic rulings discussed in the principles of jurisprudence, there is, by the consensus of Muslims, “the Book.” None of the imams has disputed this, unlike certain misguided people who have disputed its use as evidence in some matters of belief.

The second is “the mass-transmitted Sunnah” that does not contradict the apparent meaning of the Quran but rather explains it: for example, the number of prayers and their units, the minimum thresholds for zakat and its prescribed dues, the manner of performing Hajj and ʿumrah, and other rulings known only through the Sunnah’s explanation.

As for the mass-transmitted Sunnah that does not explain the Quran’s apparent meaning, or is said to contradict it—such as the Sunnah specifying the threshold for the punishment of theft, the stoning of the adulterer, and other such rulings—the position of all the early generations is that it must likewise be acted upon, except for the Khārijites. For among their tenets—or those of some of them—is opposition to the Sunnah. Their first representative said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to his face: “This division was not intended to seek Allah’s countenance.” It is reported that they follow him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only in what he conveyed from Allah, namely,