the transmitted reports, and they began to ground their verdicts in the restless promptings of the ego—promptings born of ill intent and ever inclined to contradict the Sunnah. They clung to verses for which they enjoyed no divine sanction, twisting them to match their own desires and thereby giving legitimacy to their sectarian doctrines. I was therefore obliged to set forth the creed of the earliest generations, the sources on which the believers relied, and the pathway of the pioneers, lest I—or anyone who follows me—be swept into the very pronouncements from which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ warned his nation and strictly forbade those who obey him.

Abū ʿAbdallāh then related the incident of the Prophet ﷺ emerging while they were arguing about predestination and how his anger was aroused.