has no matter that bears it, for a body that subsists in its own right cannot be diffused through another body while subsisting in its own right. Rather, it was created from matter, just as a human being is created from semen. This matter does not remain once what was created from it exists; instead, it perishes and ceases to exist little by little.

This is the nonexistence observed in concrete entities: just as Allah Most High brings what He creates into being little by little, He causes what He annihilates to cease to exist little by little.

These matters have been discussed at length elsewhere.

Since this is so, the method mentioned in the Quran is known through sense perception and self-evident knowledge. There is therefore no need to establish a proof that entities which come into being have originated. Rather, their coming into being serves as evidence for the existence of their Originator, Allah Most High.

As for the Muʿtazilah, the Jahmiyyah, and those who follow them, their well-known method of establishing that the world came into being and proving the existence of the Maker is to argue:

(by establishing the existence of accidents first, establishing that they come into being second, demonstrating that substances cannot be devoid of them third, and demonstrating the impossibility of a succession of events with no beginning fourth).

Most of the Ashʿarīs and others have agreed with them on this method. It is this method that al-Ashʿarī condemned, explaining that it is neither the way of the prophets—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—nor of their followers. Rather, it was adopted by those who oppose them: the philosophers and their followers among the religious innovators, as discussed above.

His words on this have already been quoted, and this is the point at issue. His words imply that this method is religiously forbidden