who claim adherence to the Sunnah.
The Kullābī says:
“The Karrāmī has no ground to stand on.”
The Karrāmī says:
“The Kullābī has no ground to stand on.”
The Asharī says:
“The Sālimī has no ground to stand on.”
The Sālimī says:
“The Asharī has no ground to stand on.”
A Sālimī, such as Abū Alī al-Ahwāzī, writes(1) a book cataloguing the faults of al-Asharī,(2) while an Asharī, such as Ibn Asākir, writes(3) a book that contradicts it in every respect and catalogues the faults of the Sālimīs.(4)
The same applies to adherents of the four schools and others, especially since many of them have adopted certain theological doctrines and mixed one thing with another. Thus, a Hanbalī, Shāfiʿī, or Mālikī mixes certain principles of Asharī and Sālimī thought, among others, into the schools of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad, and then attributes them to the schools of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad. Likewise, a Hanafī mixes certain Mutazilī, Karrāmī, and Kullābī principles into the schools of Abū Hanīfa and then attributes them to the school of Abū Hanīfa.
This is analogous to Rāfidism and Shīism, though here the sectarian allegiance consists in favoring certain groups and scholars rather than certain Companions.
What is incumbent upon every Muslim who bears witness that there is no deity except Allah