the response: he did not realize when he authenticated it that it was among the arguments of the supporters of the sunnah here, whom he labeled—out of malice, envy, and hostility—as "the Albanians." Otherwise, he would have fabricated a defect for it as he did in "His Discussion," and would have included it in "His Weak Narrations," which he appended to "His Gardens," or he would have sufficed with omitting it as he did with some authentic ḥadīths when they contradicted his desires and he could not find a defect to pretend with. There are many examples, and one example that suits the context will suffice for now: al-Nawawī (may Allāh have mercy on him) included (number 1094) the ḥadīth of Anas as marfūʿ: "Straighten your rows and close the gaps..." the ḥadīth, and he said: "al-Bukhārī narrated it verbatim (1), and Muslim narrated it in meaning, and in a narration by al-Bukhārī: One of us would stick his shoulder to his companion's shoulder, and his foot to his foot." So the "weakened" omitted this narration of al-Bukhārī from "His Gardens" (number 837) due to its weakness according to him, as he stated in "the Introduction" (p. 15), not due to a weakness in its isnād, otherwise he would not have kept the first narration. Rather, because it supports in meaning what he weakened from the three ḥadīths as is apparent, because the sticking mentioned therein cannot be achieved with the separation of the pillar between a person and his brother! And this sunnah is preserved only by the supporters of ḥadīth and sunnah in all the lands of the world, and I do not think the aforementioned joins them in practicing it, sticking his foot to his companion's foot when he prays with the congregation, how can he when he fights it and authors a treatise to refute those who adhere to it, accusing them in it (p. 13) of "leaving the imitation of the imams to the imitation of those who are not mentioned before them"?! So I say: Yes, I see that I should not be mentioned with them, due to the vast difference between me and them