The Sālimiyyah and similar groups are closer to the dictates of clear reason and soundly transmitted evidence, though each of them still commits errors that the others do not share. As for the Salaf, the leading Imams, and the foremost scholars of ḥadith, the Sunnah, and the mainstream Muslim community, they are the faction most in harmony with sound reason and authentic revelation. A thorough discussion of such questions is set out elsewhere; we mention the matter here only because miracles are among contingent events, and their occurrence has given rise to the debates we have just sign-posted.

Our aim at this point is to refute those who claim that miracles are produced by psychic powers. We have already noted that the Ashʿarīs—and those Muʿtazilites and others who agree with them—reject this claim on the basis of their own principles, holding that every event is brought about solely by the power of God. The Muʿtazilites themselves do not deny the causal efficacy of a living, capable agent, yet many of them do deny any efficacy for souls. If the philosopher retorts, “Their view is false, for the existence of inherent forces and natural properties is proven,” he is told: The premise on which you build this objection is more unsound than any of their statements. You have founded it on the notion that the Maker of the universe acts by necessity, that He is a complete cause inseparably bound to His effect. Clear reason has exposed the falsity of this view and shown that it entails the conclusion that contingent events have no true originator. Given that, you have no right to invalidate their position while validating your own; instead, either both positions are false, or one of them alone is correct.