we have followed is safe from these pitfalls and free of these defects. It has therefore become plainly evident that the claim made by some speculative theologians is false: that whoever does not attain knowledge of Allah Most High and His oneness through the form of reasoning they deem valid does not truly affirm His oneness, but merely submits and follows others, and that his status is like that of children who follow their fathers in Islam. It has also been established that whoever makes this claim is mistaken, presumes to go ahead of Allah and His Messenger, disparages the Companions at large and the majority of the early generations, turns away from the path of the Sunnah, and deviates from its course.”

[Ibn Taymiyya’s comment]

I say:

What al-Khattābī has mentioned is clear and evident, even on the assumption that this method is valid in itself and leads to knowledge. For following it—even under this assumption—is either risky and dangerous or arduous and difficult, indeed beyond one’s ability. It requires establishing the validity of numerous subtle and disputed premises, which a person may be unable to establish and thus lose his way. It is therefore like the case of someone who wishes to undertake the pilgrimage by a distant and perilous route: someone taking it may arrive after toil and hardship, or he may