their reasoning and the soundness of their knowledge, let us now set out the fundamental principles on which they agreed.”

[Ibn Taymiyyah’s commentary]

I say:

The method set forth in the Quran is to infer the existence of the Creator, glorified and exalted be He, from the coming into being of human beings and other originated things whose coming into being is known through observation and similar means. A human being’s coming into being serves as evidence of the One who brought him into being. There is no need to establish that he came into being by appealing to the changes or events that accompany him and to the necessity of a finite sequence of events.

The distinction between drawing an inference from his coming into being and proving that he came into being is clear. The Quran employs the former, not the latter, as Allah Most High says:

“Or were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators?”

[al-Tūr: 35]

The very coming into being of animals, plants, minerals, rain, clouds, and the like is known of necessity. Indeed, it is directly witnessed and requires no proof. Proof is needed only for what is not known through the senses or of necessity.

Knowledge that these originated things have come into being is necessary knowledge and requires no proof. This is known through the senses or of necessity, whether through reports that yield necessary knowledge or through other forms of necessary knowledge.

A human being’s coming into being from semen is like fruit coming into being from trees, and the coming into being of