at times they agree with them, at times they oppose them, and at times they declare them unbelievers. Thus they are perpetually self-contradictory, holding conflicting views, from which whoever is turned away is turned away.

Abū Hāmid is among the best, most knowledgeable, and most devout of them. Yet at times he declares the philosophers not merely misguided but unbelievers, while at other times he treats the very doctrines for which he declared them unbelievers as knowledge to be withheld from those unfit to receive it. At times he declares the speculative theologians misguided and maintains that their method offers no elucidation of the truth; at other times he makes it his mainstay and foundation, declaring those who oppose him misguided.

Likewise, he makes contradictory pronouncements about the Sufis: at times he considers them the elite of the Muslim community and ranks them above the jurists, while at other times he forbids giving them zakat and requires them to earn their livelihood