318 - Muhammad ibn Rizq Allah informed us: Abu Muhammad Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Nusayr informed us; Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Ghannam ibn Hafs ibn Ghiyath al-Nakha'i related to us; Abu Sa'id Yahya ibn Ahmad related to us: I heard Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Bistam say: I heard Sahl ibn Muhammad recite it to Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn Ja'far al-Madini, who said to him: “You said—may Allah honor you:

‘The binding Sunnah is such that whoever abandons any one of its tenets, neither affirming it nor believing in it, is not among its people: belief in qadar (divine decree), both its good and its evil; ⦗186⦘ then affirming the hadiths and believing in them. One is not to ask, “Why?” or “How?” Rather, one must affirm them and believe in them. Even if one does not know the interpretation of a hadith and his intellect cannot comprehend it, he has been spared that burden; what is required of him is firm belief in it and submission.

This includes the hadith of Zayd ibn Wahb from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: “The truthful one, whose truthfulness was affirmed, related to us,” and similar hadiths transmitted from trustworthy authorities. One is not to dispute with anyone, debate, or learn dialectical argumentation. Speculative discourse regarding divine decree and other matters of the Sunnah is reprehensible. Whoever engages in it is not among the people of the Sunnah, even if his words happen to conform to the Sunnah, until he abandons disputation, submits, and believes.

The Quran is the speech of Allah and is not created. Do not hesitate to say that it is not created, for the speech of Allah, exalted is He, is not separable from Him, and nothing belonging to Him is created. One must believe in this and not debate anyone concerning it.

One must believe in the Balance on the Day of Resurrection: the servant will be weighed, though he may not weigh as much as a mosquito’s wing; and the deeds of the servants will be weighed, as the reports have stated. One must believe in and affirm this, turn away from whoever rejects it, and refrain from disputing with him.

Allah, exalted is He, will speak to His servants on the Day of Resurrection and call them to account, with no intermediary between them and Him. This must be believed in and affirmed.

One must believe in the Basin: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, will have a Basin on the Day of Resurrection to which his community will come. Its breadth is equal to its length—the distance of a month’s journey—and its vessels are as numerous as the stars of the sky, as ⦗187⦘ has been related and described in the reports. This too must be believed in.

One must believe in the punishment of the grave: this community will be tested in their graves and questioned concerning the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; Munkar and Nakir will come to them as Allah, exalted is He, wills and as He decrees. This must be believed in and affirmed.

One must believe in the Prophet’s intercession, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and in the removal from the Fire of people who have been burned and turned into charcoal. They will then be commanded to go to a river at the gate of Paradise, as related in the reports, however Allah wills and as He wills. What is required is only belief in this and affirmation of it.

One must believe that between the eyes of the False Messiah, the Dajjal, will be written, “disbeliever,” in accordance with the hadiths reported concerning him; that this will indeed occur; and that Jesus, son of Mary, will descend and kill him at the gate of Ludd.

Faith consists of speech and action, in conformity with the Sunnah, correctness, and intention. Faith increases and decreases, and the believers most complete in faith are those best in character.

Abandoning the prayer is disbelief. No other deed, when abandoned, constitutes disbelief except the prayer. Whoever abandons it is a disbeliever, and his execution is lawful.

The best of this community after its Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, then Umar, then Uthman ibn Affan. We give precedence to these three just as the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave them precedence, and they did not differ concerning this.

Then, after these three, come the five members of the consultative council: Ali, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Sa'd ibn Malik. All of them were fit for the caliphate, and all of them were imams, as was held by the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Then the best of people after the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are the entire generation among whom he was sent. ⦗188⦘ Whoever accompanied him for a year, a month, or an hour; saw him; or came to him as part of a delegation, is among his Companions. He has the rank of companionship according to the extent of his companionship. Thus, even the one with the least companionship is better than those who never saw him, even if they were to meet Allah, exalted is He, with every deed. The one who accompanied the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw him with his own eyes, and believed in him—even for an hour—is, by virtue of his companionship, better than all the Followers, even if they performed every righteous deed.

Then there is hearing and obeying the imams and commanders of the believers, whether righteous or wicked. Whoever assumes the caliphate with the consensus and approval of the people—no one who believes in Allah and the Last Day may spend even one night without having an imam over him. Whether he is righteous or wicked, he is the commander of the believers.

Military expeditions alongside commanders, whether righteous or wicked, are to continue until the Day of Resurrection and must not be abandoned. The distribution of public war booty and the establishment of prescribed punishments belong to the imams and remain in force. No one may criticize them for this or contend with them. Giving zakah to them is permissible and legally effective: whoever gives it to them has discharged his obligation, and it suffices for him, whether they are righteous or wicked.

The Friday prayer behind him and behind those whom he appoints is valid and established; it consists of two units of prayer. Whoever repeats it is an innovator who has forsaken faith and departed from the truth. He has no share in the merit of the Friday prayer if he does not regard the Friday prayer as valid behind the imams, whoever they may be, righteous or wicked. The Sunnah is to pray behind them, without feeling any misgiving in one’s heart over this.

Whoever rebels against one of the imams of the Muslims after the people have united behind him and acknowledged his caliphate—regardless of how it came about, whether by consent or by force—has split the community and opposed the reports from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If the rebel against him dies, ⦗189⦘ he dies a death of Jahiliyyah, the state of pre-Islamic ignorance.

It is not lawful for any person to fight the ruler or rebel against him. Whoever does so is an innovator who is not upon the Sunnah.

It is lawful to fight the Khawarij and bandits if they attack a person in his life, his property, or what is less than his life. He may fight in defense of his life and property until he repels them from where he is. But if they leave him or abandon him, he may not seek them out or pursue their tracks once he has become safe from them. That belongs to the imams. He is only to defend himself where he is and, to the utmost of his ability, intend not to kill anyone. If someone is killed at his hand while he is defending himself in the fight, then may Allah cast the slain far away. If he himself is killed in that state while defending his life and property, we hope that he will attain martyrdom, as stated in the reports and in all the transmitted narrations. He has only been commanded to fight him, not to kill him. Nor may he administer the prescribed punishment to him; rather, he hands him over to the one whom Allah has entrusted with authority over him, who will then judge his case.

We do not testify that any Muslim will enter Paradise or Hell on account of a deed he has done. We hope for the righteous and fear for the sinful evildoer, while hoping for Allah’s mercy for him.

Whoever meets Allah with a sin for which he deserves the Fire, having repented of it and not persisted in it, then Allah accepts his repentance. He accepts repentance from His servants and pardons misdeeds. ⦗190⦘ Whoever meets Him after the prescribed punishment for that sin has been carried out upon him, then it is an expiation for him, as reported from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Whoever meets Him while persisting without repentance in sins for which punishment is deserved, then his affair rests with Allah, exalted is He: if He wills, He punishes him, and if He wills, He forgives him. But whoever meets Him as a polytheist, He will punish him and will not forgive him.

The penalty of stoning applies to a married adulterer when he confesses to it and the evidence is established against him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stoned adulterers, and the rightly guided imams after him did likewise.

Whoever disparages any of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, hates him because of an event in which he was involved, or mentions his faults, is an innovator until he asks mercy for all of them and his heart becomes sound toward them.

Hypocrisy is disbelief: that a person disbelieves in Allah, exalted is He, worships another besides Him in secret, and outwardly displays faith—like the hypocrites who lived in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from whom he accepted their outward profession. Whoever openly manifests disbelief is executed.

The hadiths which state, “There are three traits; whoever possesses them is a hypocrite,” have come by way of stern warning. We narrate them as they have come and do not interpret them. Likewise: “Do not revert to disbelief after me, striking one another’s necks”; “When two Muslims confront one another with their swords, both the killer and the slain are in the Fire”; “Reviling a Muslim is wickedness, and fighting him is disbelief”; “Whoever says to his brother, ‘O disbeliever,’ then it returns to one of them”; ⦗191⦘ and, “It is disbelief in Allah to disavow one’s lineage, even if it is remote.” Similar to these are the hadiths we have mentioned and those we have not mentioned among the hadiths that are authentically established and preserved. One must submit to them, even if their interpretation is not known. They are not to be discussed or disputed, nor is anything to be said concerning them beyond what has been transmitted to us. We do not interpret the hadiths except according to how they have come, and we do not reject them.

Paradise and Hell are created, as reported from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “I entered Paradise and saw a palace therein; I saw the Kawthar; I looked into Paradise and found most of its inhabitants to be such-and-such; and I looked into Hell and saw most of its inhabitants to be such-and-such.” Whoever claims that they have not been created has denied the report, and I do not think that he believes in Paradise and Hell.

His statement, “The souls of the martyrs roam freely in Paradise,” and all such hadiths that have been reported—we believe in them all.

Whoever among the Muslims dies as a monotheist who prayed, we perform the funeral prayer over him and seek forgiveness for him. We do not withhold seeking forgiveness for him or refrain from praying over him because of a sin, whether minor or major; his affair rests with Allah, exalted is He.

If you see a man who loves Abu Hurayrah, supplicates for him, and asks mercy for him, then hope for goodness from him and know that he is free of innovations. ⦗192⦘ If you see a man who loves Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, mentions and spreads his virtues, then know that there is goodness behind this, if Allah wills.

If you see a man from Basrah who follows Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, Ibn Awn, Yunus, and al-Taymi, loves them, frequently mentions them, and follows their example, then hope for goodness from him. After them come Hammad ibn Salamah, Mu'adh ibn Mu'adh, and Wahb ibn Jarir, for these are a touchstone for the people of innovation.

If you see a man from Kufah who follows Talhah ibn Musarrif, Ibn Abjar, Ibn Hayyan al-Taymi, Malik ibn Mighwal, Sufyan ibn Sa'id al-Thawri, and Za'idah, then hope for goodness from him. After them come Abd Allah ibn Idris, Muhammad ibn Ubayd, Ibn Abi Utbah, and al-Muharibi; then hope for goodness from him.

If you see a man who loves Abu Hanifah, his legal opinion, and speculative reasoning concerning it, then do not feel assured of him or of those who follow his way—those who go to excess concerning him and take him as an imam.