When this al-Rāzī discussed the question of seeing Allah in his Nihāya and presented the arguments of those who deny it and those who affirm it, the rational and scriptural arguments he presented for those who deny it were more compelling than those he presented for those who affirm it. This is his habit in many of his disputations: he argues for falsehood using sophistry and its offshoots in ways he does not employ in support of the truth.

After discussing the rational approaches to the question of seeing Allah, he said: “From all that we have mentioned, it has become clear that the rational proofs in this question are not strong.” He also said: “Know also that, upon careful examination, the disagreement over this question comes close to being merely verbal. We shall explain this, if Allah Most High wills.”

The second point: This man and those who agree with him have acknowledged that seeing Allah—as attested by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations of the Muslim community—indeed, even the apprehension of Him denied in His words,

“No vision can encompass Him” [al-Anʿām 103],

indicates that Allah Most High is in a direction. This entails that the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations of the Muslim community establish two things: that Allah Most High will be seen, and that He is in a direction. He also mentioned the acknowledgment by leading Muʿtazilites that the prophets held this belief.