his teacher, al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā, had championed. He therefore affirmed wisdom and purpose in general, while acknowledging his inability to explain the details.

Al-Qādī Abū Khāzim, the son of al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā, follows the approach of those who affirm wisdom and an overall benefit that must be safeguarded, even if this results in a particular harm. He does so in his book on the foundations of religion, which he arranged according to the organization adopted by Muhammad ibn al-Haysam in his book entitled Jumal al-Maqālāt (Summary of Doctrinal Views). This can be observed in what is created and what is commanded. This is the jurists’ position concerning the purposes underlying religious rulings, and the position of many—indeed, most—speculative thinkers concerning the purposes underlying created things. It is the position adopted by the Karrāmiyyah, the philosophers, and other groups. This subject has been discussed at length elsewhere.

By his statement, “The earliest generation followed the same course as the prophets in relying on these persuasive arguments,” Ibn ‘Aqīl did not mean that persuasive arguments were used in the proofs establishing knowledge of the Maker’s existence, His attributes, the resurrection, and similar matters. For Ibn ‘Aqīl and others like him regard those proofs as demonstrations yielding certainty. How, then, could he maintain that these, in the view of