"when a judge passes a judgment and strives to reach the correct decision, he receives two rewards, and if he passes a judgment and strives but errs, he receives one reward" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). This ḥadīth refutes that notion and clearly demonstrates, without ambiguity, that when someone says, "So-and-so erred," it means in Islamic law: "So-and-so is rewarded with one reward." So if he is rewarded in the view of the one who considers him mistaken, how can one imagine that criticizing him implies disparagement? There is no doubt that this misconception is false and everyone who holds it must abandon it, otherwise, they are the ones disparaging Muslims, not just any individual among them, but the great scholars from the Companions, the Followers, and the subsequent independent jurists and others. For we know with certainty that these esteemed figures would sometimes err in relation to each other and refute one another. (1) Would any rational person say that some of them disparaged others? Indeed, it is authentically reported that the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) corrected Abū Bakr (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) regarding his interpretation of a dream that a man had seen. He (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said to him: "You were correct in part and mistaken in part" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). Did he (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) disparage Abū Bakr with this statement? One of the astonishing effects of this misconception on its adherents is that it deters them from following the sunnah that contradicts their school of thought, because following it, in their view, implies disparagement of the imam. However, following the imam—even if contrary to the sunnah—means respecting and honoring him. Therefore, they insist on imitating him to avoid the imagined disparagement. These people have forgotten—and I do not say they have deliberately ignored—that due to this misconception, they have fallen into something worse than what they fled from. For if someone were to say to them: If following [the sunnah] indicates respect..