disagreement among scholars, including the followers of Ahmad and others.

The substance of the issue is that some knowledge is attained through reason, while other knowledge can only be attained through revelation.

Innate acknowledgment—such as the acknowledgment Allah reports from the disbelievers—may be attained through reason, as in His words:

“If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say, ‘Allah.’”

As for the faith within the hearts referred to in His words:

“You did not know what the Book was, nor what faith was, but We made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants,”

it can only be attained through revelation, as in His words:

“Say, ‘If I go astray, I do so only to my own detriment; but if I am guided, it is through what my Lord reveals to me.’”

Related to this issue is the discussion of the faith that Allah Most High inspires in the believers, as in His words:

“And when I inspired the disciples to believe in Me and in My Messenger.”

And His words:

“Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam.”

And His words:

“Is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is upon a light from his Lord [like one whose heart is hardened]?”

And His words:

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is that of a niche containing a lamp,”

up to His words:

“Whoever Allah has not granted light has no light.”