The Misguidance and Ignorance of the Adherents of These Doctrines

All of them flee from one perceived difficulty only to land in its very counterpart—indeed, in something even worse—while burdening themselves with layers of distortion and outright negation. Had they examined matters with due care, they would have treated like things alike and distinguished between what truly differs, just as sound reason dictates. They would then be among those endowed with knowledge, who see that what was revealed to the Messenger is the truth from his Lord and that it guides to the path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy. Instead, they deal in unknowns masquerading as rational proofs: they indulge in sophistry when it comes to matters of intellect and resort to cryptic, esoteric twisting when it comes to the transmitted texts.