they believed that authentic hadiths had been transmitted on this matter, as in the case of Abū al-Hasan ʿAlī ibn Shukr. He is quick to declare anyone who disagrees with him an unbeliever over what he claims to be the Sunnah, although he may himself be mistaken, either because he relies on weak hadiths or because he relies on authentic hadiths that do not support his contention. Even where he is correct concerning the Sunnah, it is not permissible to declare everyone who disagrees with him an unbeliever. Not everyone who errs is an unbeliever, especially in subtle questions over which the Muslim community has disagreed extensively, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

Likewise, Abū ʿAlī al-Ahwāzī compiled a work on the divine attributes in which he brought together both sound and unsound material. The same applies to the material collected by ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Mandah. Although he is among the most prolific transmitters of hadith, he narrates many weak hadiths without distinguishing the authentic from the weak. He sometimes compiles an entire chapter whose hadiths are all weak, such as those concerning eating clay and other subjects. He also narrates from Abū ʿAlī al-Ahwāzī.

Some of the unusual, fabricated reports he narrated reached Hasan ibn ʿAdī, who based false beliefs upon them and claimed that Allah can be seen directly with one’s own eyes in this world. Those of his followers who hold this view then declare anyone who disagrees with them an unbeliever. As noted above, this is the practice of the people of innovation, as exemplified by the Khawārij.

Among these is the well-known hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khalīfa, who narrates from