Moreover, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘īd ibn Kullāb, al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, Abū al-‘Abbās al-Qalānisī, Abū al-Hasan ibn Mahdī al-Tabarī, and the early Ash‘arīs generally say that Allah, in His essence, is above the Throne. They refute those who negate in the strongest terms, and their extensive discussions of this matter are cited elsewhere.

The purpose here is to point out the invalidity of the rational arguments advanced by those who negate in opposition to this position.

As for negation, it was known only among the Jahmiyyah, such as the Mu‘tazilah and others like them, and the philosophers who agreed with them. Otherwise, what is transmitted from most philosophers is the position of those who affirm, as Ibn Rushd the grandson reports from them. He is among their staunchest defenders and most devoted followers of their method, especially that of Aristotle and his followers, while also inclining towards the view that the world has no beginning.

[The second response to the first argument in al-Rāzī’s discussion—the second response]

Among the replies to his statement:

“If it were self-evident, it would be impossible for such a vast multitude—namely, everyone other than the Hanbalīs—to agree in denying it.”

is the following: Only those who adopted this view from one another have unanimously agreed upon it, just as the Christians adopted their religion from one another, as did the Jews, the Rāfidah, and others.

As for those whose innate dispositions have not been altered, they do not deny this knowledge. If that is so, it is not impossible for adherents of inherited doctrines to agree unanimously in denying self-evident truths, for