his opponents, and answered them as best he could. Thus it became [their mainstay in this field].

Once the full extent of their arguments and doctrines is known, this knowledge is among Allah’s greatest blessings upon those people of knowledge and faith whom He has guided. It increases their certainty and insight into what the Quran and demonstrative proof establish. It also equips them to support Allah and His Messenger unseen, and to expose the faults of those who oppose the Book and the Sunnah. As he presents the principles of speculative theology, we shall draw attention to the way of attaining an understanding of the true nature of the matter.

Al-Rāzī composed this book according to his own practice and that of others like him among the philosophers and speculative theologians: writing books for worldly dignitaries—kings, ministers, judges, rulers, and their associates—so that their prestige would help promote these writers’ teachings, whether true or false, and whether they sought thereby the Face of Allah or sought ascendancy in the land or corruption. The ruler of Syria and Egypt in his time was al-Malik al-‘Ādil, Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb. So he composed it