and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is that his fundamental aim should be to worship Allah alone, without partner, and to obey His Messenger. His entire course should revolve around this, and he should follow it wherever he finds it. He should know that the best of creation after the prophets are the Companions. He must therefore give no individual absolute and unconditional support except the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and no group absolute and unconditional support except the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them all.

For guidance accompanies the Messenger wherever he turns, and it accompanies his Companions wherever they turn, rather than the followers of anyone else. Whenever they agree unanimously, they never agree(1) upon an error. By contrast, the followers of a scholar may agree(2) upon an error. Indeed, any view they hold that no one else in the Ummah holds(3) can only be erroneous. The religion with which Allah sent His Messenger(4) was not entrusted to one scholar and his followers. Were that so, this individual would be a counterpart to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This resembles the Rāfidah’s doctrine concerning the infallible Imam.

The Companions and Successors must necessarily have known the truth with which Allah(5) sent the Messenger before the emergence of the authorities to whom the schools in the fundamentals and branches of religion are ascribed. It is impossible that those authorities brought a truth contrary to what the Messenger brought, for everything that contradicts the Messenger is false. Nor is it possible that any one of them learned from the Messenger something contrary to the Companions and those who followed them faithfully, for they did not unite upon misguidance. His position must therefore—if