of Mecca through reports; or it may be attained by inference, as when we infer the existence of a builder from a building.”

He said:

“It is known that knowledge of Allah Most High is not like our knowledge that ten is greater than five. Were it so, we would have no need to infer His existence, just as we have no need to establish by inference that ten is greater than five.

It is known that rational minds seek evidence for Allah’s existence. Our knowledge of Allah Most High cannot come through sensory perception, for He cannot be perceived by any of the senses in this world. Nor can our knowledge of Him arise through reports, since reports lead to knowledge only when a great multitude conveys them on the basis of direct observation, and no one informs us about Allah on the basis of direct observation.

Nor can knowledge of Him come through inspiration, as a group among the Sufis and some of the Shīʿa have claimed. Inspiration is an impression that arises in the heart: it may be from Allah, or it may be a whisper from Satan, with no evidence to indicate which it is. Moreover, the opponent of someone who claims inspiration can claim to have been inspired with the opposite.

For if he says, ‘I have been inspired with such-and-such,’ his opponent can say, ‘And I have been inspired with such-and-such.’ Acting upon it would therefore be acting without evidence.

Do you not see that the Lawgiver commanded us to exercise juristic reasoning when