of that alleged statement, the name of the Salafi who supposedly voiced it, and the book or pamphlet in which it appears. If he fails to do so—and fail he surely will—then his lie and fabrication will be obvious to all.

Another matter must also be raised here. Al-Būṭī’s earlier remark, “Whoever claims any of that is, by consensus of the Muslims, an unbeliever,”—to anyone who reflects on it—amounts to declaring all Salafis disbelievers. This is yet another falsehood and an unjust accusation for which, without doubt, Allah will call him to account. The Salafis are Muslims—in fact, they are the people most deserving of the name “Muslim.” They know full well that attributing intrinsic, independent power of influence to the Prophet ﷺ or to anyone else is outright association in lordship that expels a person from the religion, and they are among the keenest to beware of it and to warn others against it, whereas al-Būṭī and those like him continue to devise every excuse and justification for those who fall into it.

We must also remind him and his peers of what we have explained throughout this treatise: the sole reason we forbid seeking nearness to Allah by the person, status, or rank of the righteous is that such a practice is nowhere sanctioned in the noble law. The Prophet ﷺ never employed it, nor did his Companions. It is therefore an innovated matter. As for the scriptural texts our opponents cite, some are authentic yet do not support their contention, and others are inauthentic; the details have already been presented.

This—and nothing else—is why we reject that form of intercession. Let us speak plainly: had it been affirmed in the law, we would have embraced it, for we are captives in the hands of the Sharia; whatever it permits, we permit, and whatever it forbids, we forbid. Strangely, the doctor ignored this fundamental reason and invented one of his own