Then he said: “The theologians answered as follows:

First: He brought the world into existence at that time because the will, by its very nature, required that it be directed toward bringing it into existence at that time.”

I say: This is the answer given by the majority of scholastic theologians who affirm the divine attributes, such as Ibn Kullāb, al-Ashʿarī, and their followers. It is also the answer given by al-Qādī Abū Bakr, Abū al-Maʿālī, the Tamīmīs among Ahmad’s followers, al-Qādī Abū Yaʿlā, Ibn ʿAqīl, Ibn al-Zāghūnī, and others like them. Al-Ghazālī gave this answer in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, and Ibn Rushd the Younger criticized it. Al-Āmidī also gave this answer, as did al-Rāzī in some passages.

He said: “The theologians’ second answer is that the will required that it be directed toward bringing the world into existence at that time because knowledge pertained to it.”

I say: This answer was mentioned by a group of Ashʿarīs. Some regard the determining factor as knowledge, will, and power taken together, as al-Shahrastānī mentioned. This could be considered a separate answer.

He said: “The third answer: Perhaps there was some hidden wisdom for which He brought it into existence at that time.”