...The Explanation of the Hearts in Prohibiting the Raising of Graves by Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Shawkānī. In the name of Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of all the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers and upon his noble and purified family and companions. To proceed: Know that if there is a disagreement among Muslims regarding whether something is an innovation or not, disliked or not, prohibited or not, or any other matter, it has been agreed upon by Muslims—both their predecessors and successors—from the era of the Companions to our current era, which is the thirteenth century since the prophetic mission, that the obligation when there is a disagreement in any matter of religion among the community of jurists is to refer back to the Book of Allāh, the Exalted, and the sunnah of His Messenger (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam). This is articulated in the noble book: "And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allāh and the Messenger" (Sūrah al-Nisāʾ, verse 59). The meaning of referring to Allāh, the Exalted, is referring to His Book, and the meaning of referring to His Messenger (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) is referring to his sunnah after his death. This is something over which there is no disagreement among all Muslims. So if a jurist among the jurists says: this is permissible, and another says: this is prohibited, neither is more entitled to the truth than the other, even if one has more knowledge, is older, or from an earlier time, because each of them is an individual among the servants of Allāh and is obligated by what is in the purified sharīʿah, which is in the Book of Allāh and the sunnah of His Messenger (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), and is required to do what Allāh has asked of others among His servants. The abundance of his knowledge and his attainment of the level of ijtihād or surpassing it does not exempt him from any of the laws that Allāh has legislated for His servants