the truth, while another aspect escapes them. The statements of the imams are among the strongest—those of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Muslim imams who preceded him among the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness, and all the other imams held in lasting esteem within the Muslim community:
Such as Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib, ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn, ‘Alqama, al-Aswad, al-Hasan al-Basrī, Ibn Sīrīn, and other Successors; Mālik, al-Thawrī, al-Awzā‘ī, al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, Hammād ibn Zayd, Hammād ibn Salama, Abū Hanīfa, Ibn Abī Laylā, Sharīk, and their peers among the Successors of the Successors; and al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm, Abū ‘Ubayd, and their peers in the generation following the Successors of the Successors.
These are the imams of the people of the three generations included in the praise of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said:
“The best generation is the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”
Whoever reflects on the statements of the Muslim imams and others on this subject will find them to be the strongest statements, in agreement with clear reason and sound transmitted evidence. This general point cannot be elaborated here; it has already been explained at length elsewhere. It has also been shown that the “blameworthy discourse” censured by the early generations is false discourse that contradicts sound transmitted evidence and clear reason; and that matters established by conclusive proofs can never conflict or contradict one another. Thus, two proofs that yield certainty can never conflict, whether both are based on reason