the Jews, and any worshipper who becomes corrupt bears a resemblance to the Christians.”

You will find that those among speculative theologians, thinkers, and jurists who adhere to innovation, such as the Mu‘tazilites, condemn the Christians more than they condemn the Jews. The Jews read their books and hold them in high esteem.

Among those devoted to worship, Sufism, and asceticism who adhere to innovation, you will find that they condemn the Jews more than they condemn the Christians, and that the Christians are drawn to them. Innovators from both groups may show allegiance to Jews and Christians in proportion to their resemblance to them. This is widespread, as the Quran and Sunnah indicate.

This first method, relied upon by such figures as Ibn ‘Aqīl, Sadaqa ibn al-Husayn, and others, is the one Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī mentioned in his epistle to the people of the frontier. It is also the method he relied upon in his well-known book, al-Luma‘ fī al-radd ‘alā ashāb al-bida‘ (Gleams in Refutation of the Adherents of Innovation), his best-known concise work. Many commentaries have been written on it, among the most distinguished being that of al-Qādī Abū Bakr.

[Al-Ash‘arī’s Discussion in al-Luma‘ of Establishing the Existence of Allah Most High]

The foregoing presentation is that of Abū al-Hasan in al-Luma‘, for he says at its beginning:

“If someone asks: ‘What is the evidence that creation has a Maker who made it and a Governor who ordered it?’

The answer is: ‘The evidence for this is that man, who