and present it to the Muslims, in the hope that it might rescue many of them from the deep confusion that still engulfs them with regard to this critical question.

By Allah’s grace and favor the matter was made easy. A number of brothers had recorded the two lectures, and one of the zealous, knowledge-seeking brethren volunteered to transfer them from the tape recorder onto paper in clear and elegant handwriting. May Allah reward him richly and accept his effort.

I then reviewed what he had written, refining it so that it would be suitable for publication, adding some pertinent benefits, and tracing the Qur’anic verses and several of the hadiths mentioned therein. About that time our teacher al-Albani came across a handwritten treatise of his that he had composed nearly twenty years earlier, entitled “At-Tawassul and Its Hadiths.” It constituted one installment in a series he had issued under the title “Tasdīd al-Iṣābah to Those Who Claim to Support the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Companions,” in which he refuted certain innovators and devotees of superstition who, in several tracts they had published, had attacked the Salafi call, slandered it, and stirred up reckless confusion wholly incompatible with genuine knowledge and sincerity.

Our teacher showed me that treatise, and when I read it I found within it valuable points and useful additions to what was contained in the two lectures. I therefore combined it with them, harmonized the material, and deleted whatever had lost its relevance or was no longer needed. I then presented the entire work in its new form to the author—may Allah preserve him—who further refined and edited it, increasing its clarity, benefit, and elegance. Thus, despite its brevity and conciseness, this epistle has emerged both comprehensive and decisive.