the foundation of the newly introduced speculative theology condemned by the early generations and the imams. They declared it to be ignorance and said that the judgment upon its practitioners was:
“They are to be beaten with palm stalks and sandals and paraded among the tribes and clans, while it is proclaimed: ‘This is the recompense of whoever abandons the Book and the Sunnah and turns to speculative theology.’”
Yet whoever understands the true nature of the conclusions reached by these accomplished, intelligent men gains greater insight, knowledge, and certainty concerning what the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought. He also recognizes that the arguments they set against the Book and the Sunnah, which they call rational arguments, belong to this same category: they gain acceptance only through their ambiguous, equivocal expressions, among those whose knowledge of what the Messenger brought and the ways of establishing its truth is limited. Such a person imagines that arguments of this kind establish knowledge of Allah and the truthfulness of His messengers, and that criticizing them means criticizing the very basis upon which a servant becomes a believer. He therefore hastens to reject much of what the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought, imagining that this rejection enables him to affirm the Messenger’s truthfulness regarding the rest.
If he examines the matter carefully, however, it becomes clear to him that the more he accepts such arguments as true, the more he grows in hypocrisy and rejection of what the Messenger brought. Conversely, the more he understands the true nature and unsoundness of these arguments, the more he grows in faith and knowledge of the reality of what the Messenger brought. This is why some of the imams said:
“Rarely does anyone study speculative theology without becoming a heretic and harboring rancor in his heart toward the people of Islam.”
Indeed, they said:
“The scholars of speculative theology are heretics.”
Thus it has been said that the true nature of the speculative theology these men have set down in their books