of certain leading Imams who conveyed the creed of the early generations in this field. Not everyone whose remarks we have cited—among the speculative theologians and others—subscribes to everything we uphold on this matter or elsewhere. Still, the truth is to be received from whoever voices it. Muʿādh ibn Jabal used to say in his well-known statement, recorded by Abū Dāwūd in his Sunan: “Accept the truth from anyone who brings it, even if he is an unbeliever—or, he said, a flagrant sinner—and beware the slip of the sage.” They asked, “How can we tell when an unbeliever is speaking the truth?” He replied, “Truth is accompanied by a light,” or words to that effect.