they invoke—both those very premises and stronger ones of the same kind—demonstrate, with even greater force, the falsity of their positions. If these premises are sound, they demonstrate that their position is false; and once their position is false, that of those who affirm is true, since two contradictory propositions cannot both be false. If the premises are unsound, they do not demonstrate that the position of those who affirm is false. Thus, these premises entail the falsity of the deniers’ position, not that of those who affirm.

This pattern holds for both scriptural and rational evidence. In refuting the principles of the Jahmiyyah who deny the divine attributes, in our discussion of Ta’sīs al-taqdīs (The Foundation of Sanctification) and elsewhere, we have explained that most of the scriptural evidence—the Quran and Sunnah—invoked by those who deny that Allah can be seen, those who deny that He is above the Throne, and others like them, establishes the opposite of their position. The same applies to most of the rational evidence they invoke: if you follow their reasoning through to its conclusion, including their answers to their opponents, you will find that their statements establish the opposite of their position, and that the arguments they present in rational disputation support the position of those who affirm more strongly than their own.