He, Allah's peace be upon him and his progeny, has said: "Do...

He, Allah's peace be upon him and his progeny, has said: "Do not go ahead of them lest you should perish, nor should you lag behind them lest you should perish. Do not teach them, for they are more learned than you." But it is the dictates of politics at the dawn of Islam. I wonder about your claim that the good previous generations adhered to those sects, finding them the most fair and the best of sects, and that they agreed to adhere to them in every time and clime.

You say so as if you do not know that our predecessors, the good past generations that followed the progeny of Muhammad and that, literally, constituted half the Muslim population, followed only the faith of the Imams among the descendants of Muhammad, peace of Allah be upon him and his progeny.

They did not find for it any substitute, and they have been this way ever since the days of ‘Ali and Fatima, when neither al­Ash’ari nor any Imam of the other four sects, or even their fathers, existed, as you very well know. The generations of the first three centuries, then, never followed any of those sects at all. Where were those sects during those three generations, the best generations ever? Al­Ash’ari was born in 270 A.H. and died in 320 A.H. Ibn Hanbal was born in 164 A.H.

and died in 241 A.H. Al­Shafi’i was born in 150 A.H. and died in 204 A.H. Malik was born in 95 A.H.[^1] and died in 179 A.H. Abu Hanifah was born in 80 A.H. and died in 150 A.H. Shi’as follow the sect of the Imams from the Prophet's Household, and the household surely know what their house contains.

Non­Shi’as follow the sects of the learned sahabah and tabi’in ; so, what makes it "mandatory" on all Muslims, after those three centuries had gone by, to follow those sects instead of the one followed before them? What made them divert their attention from those who were peers only to the Book of Allah and its own companions, the descendants of the Messenger of Allah and his trustees, the nation's ark of salvation, the leaders, the security, and the Gate of Salvation?

What caused the door of ijtihad to be shut in the face of Muslims after it had been kept widely open during the first three centuries other than resorting to reluctance, comfort, laziness, the acceptance of deprivation and the satisfaction with ignorance?