against the Muslims with the sword; that he should give precedence to those Companions of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who are to be given precedence, and acknowledge the superiority of those accorded it.”

They related that Abū Yūsuf said:
“The way of the people of the community, as we understand it, and the practice we found among the body of jurists who had not adopted religious innovations or wayward doctrines, is that one should neither revile any of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—nor speak of their faults, nor recount the disputes that arose among them, thereby turning people’s hearts against them. One should have no doubt that they are believers. One should not declare any person among the people of the qiblah who professes Islam and believes in the Quran an unbeliever, nor exclude him from faith because of a sin he may have committed. One should neither espouse the doctrine of the Qadariyyah nor engage in religious disputation, for such disputation is among the gravest innovations. This is the position of the people of the Sunnah and the community.

“No one should ask concerning this, ‘How?’ or ‘Why?’ Someone who asks about it should receive no response other than being told not to ask; if he persists, one should refrain from sitting or walking with him. No one among the people of the Sunnah and the community should associate with any follower of wayward doctrines to the point of becoming his companion and confidant, for fear of being led astray, or of leading someone else astray through that association.”

He said:
“Religious disputation is an innovation, and the refutations that followers of wayward doctrines direct against one another are a newly introduced innovation. Had there been any merit in this, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and their followers would have preceded others in it, for they were better able to undertake it and had greater insight into it. And He said: