One also says, “I withdrew from so-and-so.” This means concealing oneself while lowering oneself and showing humility before that person. Someone hiding from an enemy in combat would not be described as withdrawing from him in this sense. Rather, a person withdraws in this way from someone he fears and holds in awe, humbling and lowering himself as he conceals himself. Likewise, when Allah is remembered, Satan becomes abased, submits, and hides; when the servant neglects to remember Allah, he whispers.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, therefore instructed the servant to say:

“I believe in Allah,” or, “I believe in Allah and His Messenger.”

This utterance expresses faith and remembrance of Allah, through which one repels the opposing whisperings that undermine immediate, innate knowledge. Similar whisperings afflict many people during worship, making them doubt whether they have pronounced the takbīr (declaration of Allah’s greatness), recited al-Fātiha (the Opening), intended the act of worship, or washed a limb during ritual purification. Thus, they are made to doubt their immediate sensory knowledge.

The fact that a person has washed a limb is something he witnesses with his own eyes. The fact that he has pronounced the takbīr or recited al-Fātiha is something he knows in his heart and hears with his ears. Likewise, his intention to pray is like his intention to eat, drink, ride, or walk. His knowledge of all these things is immediate, certain, and self-evident: it does not depend on reflection or inference, nor does it depend on proof. Rather, it constitutes the premises and foundations upon which proof is built—by which I mean inferential proof composed of premises.