so I might assume he is truthful and judge in his favor. Whoever I judge in favor of with the right of a Muslim, it is only a piece of fire, so let him take it or leave it." Agreed upon, and the wording is from Muslim, and it is included in "al-Ṣaḥīḥah" (455) and "al-Irwāʾ" (1423), (8/258/2635) from Umm Salamah. The point is that the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), in his judgment among people, judges based on his being a human, not based on his being an infallible Prophet. Do you not see his saying (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): "I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity but Allāh, and that I am the Messenger of Allāh. When they say it, they protect their lives and property from me except by its right, and their reckoning is with Allāh"? Agreed upon, and it has been previously mentioned under number (407). For this reason, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar said in "al-Fatḥ," while mentioning the benefits of the ḥadīth of Umm Salamah (13/174): "In it, there is that he (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) would judge based on ijtihād in matters where nothing was revealed to him. Some people disagreed with this, and this ḥadīth is among the clearest evidence against them. It shows that his ijtihād might lead him to a judgment that, in reality, is contrary to the truth; but such a case, if it occurred, would not be confirmed upon him (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) due to his infallibility." In this way of sound knowledge and correct understanding, the ḥadīth of the accused man is interpreted, and what al-Ghazālī claimed of its impossibility is invalidated. It becomes clear to every discerning researcher that the man is devoid of beneficial knowledge, for he is neither among the people of fiqh nor among the people of ḥadīth (neither with these nor with those)! What confirms this is his stance on the following ḥadīth and his criticism of it, despite his acknowledgment of the authenticity of its isnād, and his contradiction of the principle he mentioned beforehand! *