He then said:

“Here some of our fellow Hanbalīs are liable to stumble. When asked generally about knowledge of Allah—‘By what means is Allah known?’—they answer, ‘Through revelation,’ without distinguishing between its being obligatory and its being attained.”

He said:

“I have drawn their attention to this more than once, yet they have neither risen from their slumber nor awakened from their drowsiness.”

He then mentioned the position of the Imāmiyyah and the Bātiniyyah: that, according to them, knowledge is attained through the statements of the Messenger and the infallible imam, without rational inquiry. He discussed the denial that reason establishes obligation, offering arguments that need not be addressed here.

He also discussed the means of attaining knowledge in the manner familiar among those who follow this approach: some things can be known only through reason, some cannot be known through revelation, and some can be known through both.

What can be known only through reason includes our knowledge that there must be a being without beginning, since, if everything had come into existence, it would have come into existence without a cause. This knowledge precedes the coming of the Messenger and therefore does not require a messenger. Indeed, an example of this is our knowledge that the miracle of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, establishes his truthfulness.

What is known solely through instruction from the infallible Prophet includes our knowledge of the prescribed quantities of obligatory acts of worship, and matters pertaining to the Hereafter, such as Paradise, Hell, punishment in the grave, the Reckoning, the Balance, and other matters.

He said:

“The Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent only to expound the religious law in detail,