In fact, their method yields no true knowledge at all. To those who grasp its reality it is nothing but sophistry and false disputation, while to those who do not, it is a mere game of argument meant only to best an opponent. The truth is that these people follow, in speculative theology, the path laid down by the author of al-Irshād and the like— a path originally borrowed from the Muʿtazilites, the deniers of the divine attributes. Upon this edifice both groups have built the very foundation of their religion, making the validity of Islam itself contingent upon it. Their reasoning runs as follows: the soundness of the religion depends on faith in the Messenger; faith in the Messenger depends on knowing the One who sent him; and, they claim, the Sender can be known only through this particular line of argumentation.