For Allah Most High shows His servants His signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that the Quran is true: its report is truth (1), and its command is justice:

“The word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and justice. None can alter His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

[Surah al-Anām: 115].

Pertinent to this subject is the recognition that even a man of great stature in knowledge and religion—whether among the Companions, the Successors, or those who come after them until the Day of Resurrection, and whether from the Prophet’s household or otherwise—may exercise independent judgment that is mixed with conjecture and a subtle personal inclination. Consequently, he may do something in which he ought not to be followed [in it] (2), even though he is one of Allah’s pious allies.

When something of this kind occurs, it becomes (3) a trial for two groups (4): one group venerates him and therefore seeks to declare that action correct and to follow him in it, while another condemns him and regards it as impugning his standing as an ally of Allah and his piety—indeed, even his righteousness and his being among the people of Paradise, and ultimately even his faith, to the point of excluding him from the faith altogether. Both of these extremes (5) are unsound.

This is how the Kharijites, the Rafidites (6), and other followers of caprice fell into error. Whoever follows the path of moderation venerates those who deserve veneration, loves them and remains loyal to them, and gives each their rightful due: honoring the truth, showing mercy to creation, and recognizing