“The angels came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, while he was asleep. Some of them said, ‘He is asleep,’ while others said, ‘His eyes are asleep, but his heart is awake...’” The hadith continues: “Whoever obeys Muhammad has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys Muhammad has disobeyed Allah; and Muhammad distinguishes between people.”

I say: This hadith constitutes explicit evidence that making distinctions is not blameworthy in itself. Thus, some people’s attempts to discourage calling to the Quran and Sunnah, and warning against the newly introduced religious matters that contradict them—or their claim that its time has not yet come—on the pretext that it alienates and divides people, reflect profound ignorance of the call to the truth and of the disagreement and hostility that accompany it, as is witnessed in every time and place. This is Allah’s established way with His creation: “Had your Lord willed, He could have made mankind one community, but they will continue to differ—except those to whom your Lord has shown mercy.”

2824 — “May the faces be disfigured! [May the faces be disfigured!]”

Ahmad narrated it (1/303): Ishaq ibn ʿIsa narrated to us: Yahya ibn Sulaym narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said:

“The leaders of Quraysh gathered in the Hijr and made a pact, invoking al-Lat, al-ʿUzza, Manat—the third other one—Naʾilah, and Isaf: ‘Should we see Muhammad, we shall rise against him as one man and not leave him until we kill him.’ His daughter Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, then came weeping and entered upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. She said, ‘These leaders of Quraysh have made a pact against you: should they see you, they will rise against you and kill you. Every one of them knows his share of your blood.’ He said, ‘My dear daughter, bring me water for ablution.’ He then performed ablution and entered the mosque among them. When they saw him, they said, ‘There he is!’ and lowered