Introduction

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. We praise Him, seek His help, ask His forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils within our own souls and from the consequences of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whomever He leaves to stray, none can guide.

I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone, without partner, and I testify that He—exalted is He—has said:
“Indeed, those who differed concerning the Scripture are in deep discord.” (1)
He—majestic is His remembrance—also says:
“Mankind was one community, then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, and He sent down with them the Book in truth that it might judge between people regarding whatever they disputed. None disputed about it except those to whom it was given, after clear proofs had come to them, out of envy among themselves; so Allah, by His permission, guided those who believed to the truth about which they differed.” (2)

I further bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger—may Allah’s countless blessings and peace be upon him—whom Allah sent with guidance and the religion of truth as a mercy to the worlds, an exemplar for those who act, and a proof against all mankind. He discharged the trust, conveyed the message, advised the community, and clarified for it everything needed in both the fundamentals and the details of the religion, until he left it upon a shining path whose night is as bright as its day. Upon this path walked his noble Companions and those who followed them among the preferred generations, until innovations arose, their darkness prevailed, and the scholars—whom Allah had endowed with faith and righteous action—tasted various forms of hardship in striving to extinguish them. (3)

Foremost among those scholars was Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah grant him abundant mercy—who authored numerous works elucidating the Sunnah, fortifying sound creed, and demolishing innovations. Among the treatises he penned in this regard is the Ninety-Point Treatise (al-Tisʿīniyyah), written in refutation of the Ashʿarīs, the Kullābiyyah, and others who espouse the doctrine of mental speech.