you, they say to those who have been given knowledge, ‘What did he just say?’ Those are the ones whose hearts Allah has sealed and who follow their own desires.” (16) [Muhammad 16]

He Most High also says:

“And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed coverings over their hearts so that they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears.” [al-An‘ām 25]

He Most High also says:

“And among them are those who listen to you. But can you make the deaf hear, even though they do not understand?” (42) [Yūnus 42]

Al-Rāzī’s claim that this depends on ten conjectural premises—and that whatever depends on conjecture is all the more deserving of being deemed conjectural—is false in several respects. These premises concern the transmission of language, grammar, and morphology, and the absence of figurative usage, transferred meanings, homonymy, ellipsis, specification, and countervailing rational or revealed evidence.

First, one necessarily knows a speaker’s intended meaning from his habitual conduct, circumstances, motives, and purpose, just as one knows his purpose in voluntary actions, such as eating, drinking, dressing, riding, and his other actions. When someone eats and drinks, although he does so by choice, one knows that he ate and drank to satisfy his hunger and thirst, and that eating and drinking satisfy them, even though the opposite may sometimes occur. Likewise, one knows the natural significance of the sounds he makes, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, such as blowing, clearing his throat, and sneezing