Thus, whoever does not follow the path of the leaders of guidance in these matters leaves his heart’s defenses open to the leaders of misguidance.

This is borne out by the fact that the religious innovations and misguidance that have arisen in this community have been caused, in part, by the failure of some to make the Sunnah and guidance known. This applies, for example, to the subject under discussion. The compound ignorance into which those who reject and deny have fallen concerning Allah’s oneness and attributes has been caused, in part, by shortcomings in affirming what the Messenger conveyed from Allah and in understanding the meanings of His names and verses. Indeed, many who claim adherence to the Quran and Sunnah would have it that the way of the early generations and their leading scholars consists solely in believing the wording of the scriptural texts while refraining from contemplating, comprehending, and understanding their meanings.

Hence the statement made by some who negate the divine attributes:

“The way of the later generations is more knowledgeable and wiser, while the way of the early generations is safer.”

Such a person supposes that the way of the later generations includes knowledge of negation—which he regards as the truth—and the pursuit of figurative interpretations of the texts affirming the attributes. In their view, this approach therefore contains knowledge of rational matters and interpretation of transmitted texts that are absent from what he supposes to be the way of the early generations. It also includes a refutation of those who adhere to what the texts indicate; he regards this as evidence of that approach’s soundness.

In his view, the position of the early generations is to refrain from examining the texts to understand them, because their possible interpretations conflict. He considers this safer: if a wording admits several meanings, interpreting it according to some rather than others involves a risk, whereas refraining from doing so avoids that risk.

Had it been explained and become clear to this person and others like him that the way of the early generations consists precisely in affirming