If they slaughter an animal for a Muslim, is the ruling the same as when they slaughter it for themselves? There is disagreement over this. There are also two opinions on whether they may slaughter sacrificial animals, provided they belong to those whose slaughtered meat is lawful. Both opinions are reported from Ahmad: prohibition is Mālik’s position, while permissibility is the position of Abū Hanīfa and al-Shāfiʿī. If the slaughterer is Jewish, two grounds for prohibition then arise concerning the slaughter. This, however, is not the place to discuss these questions.

Then, after describing those who speak about Allah without knowledge, merely following their predecessors, He, glorified be He, described those who conceal the clear proofs and guidance Allah has revealed after He has made them clear to people in the Book. He said:

“Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has revealed of the Book and exchange it for a small price consume nothing but fire into their bellies. Allah will neither speak to them on the Day of Resurrection nor purify them, and they will have a painful punishment.”

This is the condition of those who conceal the Messenger’s teaching; the former is the condition of those who turn away from it to what contradicts it. Those who turn away from it to what contradicts it include anyone who follows an earlier or later authority in something he knows contradicts the Messenger’s words, whether that authority is a Companion, a Successor, one of the four renowned jurists, or anyone else.

As for someone who believes that the authorities he follows agree with the Messenger in what they say, if he has reached that conclusion through a scholarly method, he is exercising independent scholarly judgment and is subject to the same ruling as others like him. But if he speaks without knowledge, he is among those who are blameworthy.