Friday, March 13, 2026
If a scholar slips, and his followers imitate him in his slip in good faith—such that, had they known, they would not have followed him in his error—what is the ruling on them?
Answer (and Allah grants success):
If the slip is in matters pertaining to justice and Divine unity—such as determinism (jabr) and anthropomorphism (tashbīh)—then the scholar and his followers are destroyed, by proof of Allah’s saying: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him.” — [al-Nisāʾ 4:48]
and the like. The scholars of the madhhab are nearly agreed on this.
But if the slip is in some derivative of the fundamentals, or in subsidiary issues, then there is no blame upon them all, based on Allah’s saying:
“And there is no blame upon you for that in which you erred, but [only for] what your hearts intended.” — [al-Aḥzāb 33:5]