• Trustworthy narrators informed me that some of those very scholars used to counsel their students not to make their verdict public, fearing the harm that might come to them from the common folk of these regions, for the populace is rife with wrongdoing and corruption.
Originally the people here were subjects of the Qarmaṭian Bāṭinite sect(1), which ruled the land for two hundred years. During that time they implanted in them the manners of godless hypocrites, ignorant innovators, and lying oppressors—traits that cannot be uprooted save with the passage of time. Later, under the rule of Nūr al-Dīn and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, the people of faith and sunnah conquered the territory, Muslims devoted to the sunnah settled in it, and the word of faith and sunnah attained a measure of prominence. Still, hypocrisy and innovation remain deeply entrenched. In every age Allah brings to light, within this land, elements of faith and sunnah that were previously unknown, and He likewise allows new surges of hypocrisy and ignorance—formerly concealed—to surface.

• We ask Allah to make manifest throughout all lands that which He loves and approves—guidance and soundness—and to increase His servants’ share of goodness by the ascendancy of Islam and the sunnah, fulfilling what He promised in the Quran of exalting His word and granting victory to the believers.

• Many people have adopted customs that are, in origin, the customs of the unbelievers and the hypocrites, though they are unaware of it: they take part in the Christians’ festivals and revere the places, times, and acts that the Christians venerate. They do not intend thereby to glorify disbelief, nor do they even realize that these are distinctively Christian practices. Once they learn this, they desist and repent.

• Likewise, many have taken on certain traits of the hypocrites without knowing that these are indeed marks of hypocrisy. When they come to recognize this, they repent to Allah. May Allah turn in mercy to us and to all who sin.

All of the foregoing has been a refutation of that claim and a demonstration of its falsehood.

• We now add: whether the story be true or fabricated, building mosques over graves is not part of the religion of the Muslims. On the contrary, the sound texts from the Prophet ﷺ and the unanimous agreement of the scholars forbid turning graves into places of prayer. It is impermissible to treat graves as mosques, whether that be done by erecting