thus, no scholar—no matter how high their rank in knowledge or elevated their status—should be followed in what contradicts the Book and the sunnah or either of them. Rather, any mistake they make after fulfilling the due diligence of ijtihād earns them a reward. It is not permissible for others to follow them in that mistake. We have clarified this at the beginning of the discussion in a manner that does not require repetition. Benefit: As for what Imām Yaḥyā used as evidence when he said, "because Muslims practiced it and did not object to it," this is a rejected statement. The scholars of Islam have always, in every era, narrated the ḥadīths of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) cursing those who did that and have established the sharīʿah of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) in forbidding it in their schools and gatherings of ḥadīth preservers. They narrate it from one to another, from the young to the old, and from the learner to the scholar from the days of the Companions until now. The muḥaddithūn have included it in their well-known books, the mothers, the musnads, and the compilations. The exegetes have included it in their tafsīrs, the jurists in their fiqh books, and the historians in their books of history and biographies. So how can it be said that Muslims did not object to those who did that when they narrate the evidence prohibiting it and the curse upon its doer, generation after generation, in every era? Despite this, the scholars of Islam have always denied it and have been excessive in prohibiting it. Ibn al-Qayyim narrated from his teacher Taqī al-Dīn—may Allāh have mercy on them both—who was well-versed in the madhhab of the predecessors and successors of this ummah. He stated that the majority of the groups have explicitly prohibited it