possibilities that they rule out, although others have no need to do so. Yet there is no fixed rule governing this, just as there is no end to the fallacious questions and objections that some people may raise against proofs. These are unsound thoughts, which none but Allah Most High can fully enumerate. But when something of this kind occurs to someone examining an argument or engaging in debate, Allah makes available guidance that reveals its falsity. His guidance and direction of His creation are commensurate with their need for it, their receptiveness to guidance, and their pursuit of it in intention and action.

[Al-Rāzī’s position on Ibn Sīnā’s method]

Thus, when al-Rāzī explained Ibn Sīnā’s method of establishing the existence of the Necessary Being, he noted that Ibn Sīnā had not included a refutation of circular dependence. After presenting his own discussion of its refutation, he said: “In fairness, the impossibility of circular dependence is self-evident. Perhaps Ibn Sīnā omitted it for that reason.”

The method Ibn Sīnā followed to establish the existence of the Necessary Being is not that of the leading ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle and others like him. Upon scrutiny, it establishes no more than the existence of a necessary existent.

As for its being distinct from the celestial spheres, this rests on the denial of attributes. This is their corrupt conception of divine unity, which