that he is lying, for most ordinary people, whether town-dwellers or desert-dwellers, do not know what reasoning from evidence means. How, then, could they employ it?”

[Ibn Taymiyyah’s commentary]

I say:

The expression “reasoning from evidence” is ambiguous. If it means setting out proofs in an ordered form and answering objections and counterarguments, then it may be said that only those skilled in disputation can do this well.

As for a particular terminology, arrangement, or wording, this is like a language: only those familiar with that language know it. There is undoubtedly no obligation to know this.

If, however, it means simply seeking knowledge of something through evidence and considering what points to it, this is ingrained in everyone’s natural disposition. Every person possesses some measure of reasoning and inference—indeed, even disputation—according to the guidance Allah has granted them in this regard.

Allah Most High has said:

“And man is, more than anything, prone to dispute.”

A person argues with falsehood to refute the truth, without knowing the rules of disputation. How, then, could he not argue in support of the truth?

The reasoning and debate people engage in concerning their trades and worldly affairs demonstrate that reasoning and debate are ingrained in their natural dispositions. How, then, could this not be so in matters of religion?

Allah, glorified is He, says:

“Who created and proportioned, and Who ordained and guided.”

And He Most High said:

“He said, ‘Our Lord is He who gave each thing its form, then guided it.’”