for among those who outwardly profess(1) Islam, none are closer to hypocrisy and apostasy than they are. No group contains more apostates and hypocrites than theirs. This can be seen in the extremist Nusayrīs and others like them, as well as in the Ismāʿīlī heretics and their ilk.

Their chief basis in matters of revealed religion is what has been transmitted to them from certain members of the Prophet’s Household. Some of those reports are true, while others are deliberate fabrications or errors. Unlike hadith experts, they lack the expertise to distinguish sound reports from weak ones. Even when [a report](2) is authentically established from some(3) of these individuals, they base the obligation to accept the statement of any one of them upon three principles:

First, that each of them is infallible, just as the Messenger is infallible. Second, that whatever any one of them says is transmitted from the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and that they are known to have said, “Whatever we say, we say only as something transmitted from the Messenger.” They also claim infallibility for the transmitters(4). The third(5) principle is that the consensus of the Prophet’s descendants constitutes authoritative proof. They then claim that these descendants are the Twelve, and that whatever is transmitted from any one of them was agreed upon by [all of] them(6).

These are the foundations upon which they base matters of revealed religion, and they are corrupt foundations, as we shall explain in the appropriate place. They do not rely upon the Quran, hadith, or any consensus except on the grounds that their infallible authority is included within it; nor do they accept analogical reasoning, even when it is perfectly clear(7).