among the followers of Abū Hanīfah, Mālik, al-Shāfi'ī, Ahmad, and others who agreed with them—it was these who stated at the outset: “The first obligation is knowledge, or inquiry leading to it.”

But those among the Ash'arīs and others who adopted their words and sought to ground them in their own principles fell into contradiction.

For someone who holds that obligation is established by reason, it would be more tenable to say: “The first obligation is knowledge.” He may then say: “When the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, required the two declarations of faith at the outset, he added what is obligatory under revealed law to what is obligatory by reason, making each a condition for the other, so that neither is accepted without the other. Whoever has fulfilled this obligation, or part of it, is commanded only to fulfil what remains.”

On this basis, the Lawgiver addresses people according to their circumstances. The first obligations imposed by revealed law differ according to people's circumstances: something may be obligatory for one person at the outset but not for another. Thus, upon reaching puberty, an unbeliever is commanded to affirm the two declarations of faith; this is the first obligation imposed by revealed law that he is commanded to fulfil.

A Muslim, however, is commanded to purify himself if he is not already in a state of ritual purity, and to perform prayer and the other obligations imposed by revealed law that he has not fulfilled.

In short, it should be understood that the sequence of obligations in religious law, one after another, is not the same for everyone. Rather, people's circumstances differ in this respect. Just as something may be obligatory for one person but not for another, similarly, it may be that