—Exalted is He—and the reality of His mercy and justice, and said things that undermined His commands and prohibitions, His promises and threats. They suspended judgment concerning some of His commands and prohibitions, promises and threats. Thus, the former denied His power, His creation, and His will, while the latter denied His mercy and wisdom, along with some of His commands and prohibitions, promises and threats, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

Thus, the false, innovated principles they used to oppose the innovators—whether principles they accepted from them or principles over which they fought them—represented misguided reasoning, poor judgment, and a deception by Satan. Rather, the correct course is neither to agree with them in falsehood nor to counter their falsehood with falsehood.

This is like what befell many of those devoted to worship, asceticism, Sufism, and faqr (poverty). They turned away from the listening, asceticism, and spiritual practice sanctioned by the revealed law, and so found themselves needing to replace these with innovated forms of listening, asceticism, and spiritual practice. In these, some agree with others in falsehood, or counter their falsehood with another falsehood. The same has befallen many people in their dealings with rulers who introduced injustice: sometimes they agree with them in some of their injustice, thereby helping them in sin and transgression; at other times, they counter their injustice with another injustice, so they rebel against them