and what is impossible for Him, of excluding from Him anything indicating that He came into existence, and of the permissibility of ascribing to Him power over it, as well as other matters that do not concern a reality that may legitimately be denied. For the Maker of the world may send messengers and command His creatures to follow revealed laws in worship of Him; He may also refrain from sending them and imposing obligations upon them, being entirely self-sufficient. Unaided reason contains no proofs concerning changes to revealed laws, the institution of acts of worship, or the forms of contracts.

He said: All who face the qiblah agree on this, except for the assertion that He, glorified be He, may refrain from sending messengers. The Qadariyyah, or some of them, hold this to be impossible, subject to distinctions to which we have already briefly alluded.

He said: A group of uncritical followers among the adherents of hadith, a faction of their speculative thinkers, and a number of the Muʿtazilah maintained that knowledge of what has come into existence and of its need for an Originator is immediate, and that the Messenger comes to make acknowledgment obligatory and explain the revealed laws. The majority of the adherents of truth, however, held that this knowledge is attained through evidence. They said: Reason itself provides evidence that a rational person is not obliged to reason toward knowledge of Him, nor is gratitude to the Creator obligatory before