heretics—even if he is able to discern that certain people are friends of Allah, or other such matters accessible only to some righteous people.
Thus, the person who praised al-Hallāj and shared his beliefs is misguided in several respects:
First, no one executed under Islamic law for heresy is known to have been killed unjustly while being a friend of Allah. Al-Jahm ibn Safwān, al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham, Ghaylān al-Qadarī, Muhammad ibn Sa‘īd, known as “the Crucified,” Bashshār ibn Burd the blind, and al-Suhrawardī were all executed, and there are many others like them. Yet scholars and people of religious devotion did not say that these men were killed unjustly or that they were friends of Allah. Why, then, should al-Hallāj alone be treated differently?
As for the prophets, they were killed by the unbelievers, as were the Companions who died as martyrs. ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, al-Husayn, and others like them were killed by Khārijite rebels; they were not executed under Islamic law according to the teachings of the leading jurists, such as Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, Abū Hanīfa, Ahmad, and others. These imams unanimously agree that killing those men was forbidden, whereas they unanimously agree that executing al-Hallāj and others like him was lawful.
Second:
Only someone who knows the path to friendship with Allah—faith and piety—can recognize Allah’s friends. Among the greatest requirements of faith and piety is to avoid the doctrines of the heretics, such as those who advocate divine indwelling and union. Whoever agrees with al-Hallāj on such a doctrine has no understanding of faith