When a person fears his Lord as much as he can, he is included in His words:

“Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make a mistake.”

An authentic hadith records that Allah said, “I have done so.” A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere.

The point here is that the Messenger explained the whole religion through the Quran and Sunnah, and that consensus—the consensus of the Muslim community—is valid, for this community does not agree upon misguidance. Sound analogical reasoning is likewise valid and accords with the Quran and Sunnah.

The well-known verse cited as evidence for consensus is His statement:

“Whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows a path other than that of the believers—We will leave him to what he has chosen.”

Some say that this verse does not establish the point at issue. Its censure, they argue, applies to someone who combines both acts, and this is undisputed. Alternatively, it applies to someone who follows a path other than the believers’ path by virtue of which they are believers, namely following the Messenger; this too is undisputed. Or they argue that the believers’ path means reasoning from the Quran and Sunnah, which is likewise undisputed. These and similar arguments are advanced by those who say that the verse does not establish the point at issue.

Others say that it does indeed establish an unqualified obligation to follow the believers. They have resorted to strained arguments to support this, as is well known from their discussions, yet have not given satisfactory answers to the objections raised by the former group.