and to reject only its affirmation; this accords with the statement under discussion.

As for the report from Ahmad and others that Allah does not compel anyone to obey or disobey, he related it according to what had reached him and what he believed. What is explicitly recorded from Ahmad, however, is his rejection both of those who say, “He compelled them,” and of those who say, “He did not compel them.” In any case, the discussion of this subject belongs elsewhere.

The point here is his explanation of the innate disposition: that people were created with recognition and acknowledgment of the Creator. As for his statement, “This is not faith, and it cannot be changed,” we have already discussed this and explained that the texts indicate that the disposition upon which people are born can change, even though this occurs by Allah’s decree and predestination—just as a sheep born sound is altered by having its nose and ears mutilated.

What concerns us here is his statement that knowledge of the Maker is innate and immediately evident. He discussed this fully at the beginning of his book.

This shaykh, Abū Muhammad ibn Abd al-Basrī al-Mālikī, follows the approach of Abū al-Hasan ibn Sālim, Abū Tālib al-Makkī, and others like them who identify with the Sunnah, knowledge, and Sufism, and with following the early generations and the leading scholars of the Sunnah and hadith, such as Mālik, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Hammād ibn Zayd, Hammād ibn Salamah, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī, al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and their like. They also affiliate themselves with Sahl ibn Abd Allāh al-Tustarī and other shaykhs like him.