and likening Him to creation, through the wisdom Allah has placed within them and the light of reason that distinguishes truth from falsehood. Otherwise, we know that if it occurs to someone reflecting on these matters that the Book might be an invention fabricated by a created being, and that the Messenger might be a fabricator, a mutamtariq, referring to the verses and the Sunnah will not dispel this suspicion from his heart while he entertains such doubts about them.

He turns to them only after the truth of Allah’s oneness and the Messenger’s truthfulness have been established for him, and after he has established that the Quran is the speech of Allah, who cannot lie; distinguished the Book’s unambiguous passages from its ambiguous ones; and understood the channels through which reports are transmitted and the requirements concerning them. At that point, he no longer needs to engage in rational inquiry.”

He said:

“If it is objected: ‘This diminishes the role of the messengers, making them contribute nothing to establishing Allah’s oneness, so that sending them benefits people only in subsidiary matters, and the verses mentioning Allah’s oneness and calling people to it serve no purpose.’”

Then he said:

“The answer is that we say: On the contrary, they provide the greatest benefit in foundational matters, for they awaken heedless minds and direct them to the points needed for rational inquiry, making it easier to discover them.

This is like a teacher to whom a book is read: he assists the student by explaining its allusions and identifying its arguments and useful points, although this does not dispense with the student’s need to examine and read the book.

Furthermore, He sent them to reinforce the case against people. They reinforce it lest people say: ‘You created desires within us and distracted us with pleasures from reflection and contemplation, so we became heedless.’ Thus Allah, Glorified is He, removed their grounds for pleading this excuse.