[Abū al-Husayn al-Basrī’s Statements in Ghurar al-adilla and Ibn Taymiyyah’s Commentary]

He said at its beginning:

“We shall state the purpose of this book and the benefit it offers, so that, once a person recognizes the nobility of that benefit and purpose, he will patiently endure the hardships of pursuing it and strive to attain it.

“We therefore say: its purpose is to arrive, through evidence, at knowledge of Allah Most High, of the attributes and acts that can and cannot be ascribed to Him, of the truthfulness of His messengers, and of the truth of what they brought.”

He said:

“It is evident that this offers great and noble benefits in several respects. Among them is that whoever knows these things through evidence is safe from being led away from them by others.

“Another is that he can turn others away from error and guide them to these truths.

“Another is that he can be confident about what awaits him in the Hereafter, without fearing that he may be following an error that will lead him to destruction.”

He said:

“No one can be confident of the truth of what the messengers brought without first knowing that they are truthful. Their truthfulness can be known only through the miracles that distinguish them from others. These miracles indicate their truthfulness only if they come from One who does nothing evil, so that we may be safe from believing liars. Yet one cannot be assured that He does nothing evil unless one knows that He knows it to be evil and knows that He has no need of it; nor can one know