Abū al-Wafāʾ Ibn ʿAqīl, Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī, Abū Muḥammad al-Maqdisī, and a number of others voiced similar objections to him, as did al-Kardārī and other followers of Abū Ḥanīfah. What most deeply concerned the verifying Imams was the extent to which he concurred with those Sabian philosophers. True, he later rebutted the philosophers, laid bare their incoherence and unbelief, and demonstrated that their method leads to no truth. He then took aim at the scholastic theologians, preferring instead the path of spiritual discipline and Sufism. When none of these avenues produced the certainty he sought, he remained among the people of suspension (waqf), inclined toward the approach of the ḥadīth scholars, and he died while occupied with the works of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

Our purpose here is to note that what Allah has stated in His Book regarding the intercession of the prophets and the angels—whether in negation or in affirmation—flatly contradicts the position of these people. The Exalted says:

“Say: Call upon those whom you claim beside Allah. They possess not so much as an atom’s weight in the heavens or on the earth; they have no share therein, nor has He any supporter among them. Intercession is of no avail with Him except for one to whom He grants permission. Then, when the dread is lifted from their hearts, they will ask, ‘What did your Lord say?’ They will answer, ‘The Truth—and He is the Most High, the Most Great.’” (Sabaʾ 34:22–23)