The majority of rational thinkers also say:

“The originated nature of the sounds heard from a person reciting the Quran is self-evident to reason.” Some people dispute this.

The majority of rational thinkers say:

“To posit two existents, neither of which is separate from the other nor within it, or to posit an existent that is neither within the world nor outside it, is self-evidently untenable to reason.” Some people have disputed this.

The majority of rational thinkers know that it is self-evident to reason that the human soul itself knows both general, universal matters and specific, particular matters. Some people have disputed this. This is a vast subject.

If reason were said to take precedence over revelation—when human intellects are not a single, self-evident thing, nor is there a proof of it known to people, but rather they exhibit such disagreement and confusion—people would necessarily be referred to something whose validity they have no means of establishing, which they have no means of knowing, and upon which they do not agree.

Revelation, by contrast, is in itself the word of one who speaks the truth. This is an inherent quality of it, which does not vary with people’s circumstances. It is possible to know this, and it is possible to refer people to revelation. Hence, revelation directs people, when they dispute, to refer to the Quran and the Sunnah, as Allah Most High says:

“O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. If you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and best in outcome.”

[al-Nisā’: 59]

Allah Most High thus commanded believers, when they dispute, to refer the matter to Allah and the Messenger, and this