This same Abū Bakr ibn al-Arabī formulated another rule, based on the approach of Abū al-Ma'ālī and his predecessors, such as Judge Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī.

Just as these men formulated this rule, each group formulates its own rule concerning what the prophets brought from Allah. They make what they suppose their reason has established the foundation of their beliefs and their ultimate authority, subordinating what the prophets brought to it. Whatever agrees with their rule they accept, and whatever contradicts it they do not follow.

This resembles the creed formulated by the Christians, which they made the basis of their faith and in light of which they interpreted the texts of the Torah and the Gospel. Yet that creed rested on their understanding of the prophets’ texts or on what had reached them from the prophets, and they erred either in their understanding or in trusting the transmitter,