the prophetic mission in reality, even if one acknowledges it verbally. Indeed, it implies that leaving people without a messenger sent to them would be better than sending them one, and that no one was guided by the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the fundamentals of religion. Rather, people were led astray through him and were guided only by their own reason, for which they had no need of the Messenger.

This is because, according to these people’s claim, neither knowledge nor proof can be derived from the Quran. Rather, whatever is known through reason is accepted as a belief. Then, if the Quran agrees with it, it is affirmed because it is known through that proof which we have deduced—not because the Messenger conveyed it, nor because he directed us to a rational proof establishing it. If its apparent meaning conflicts with reason, we follow reason, and that apparent meaning becomes as good as nonexistent, whether the wording is explicit or merely apparent in its indication.

They therefore needed either to reinterpret it or to consign the matter to Allah, lest they go astray. Others went astray by following what the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought. Thus, the coming of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entailed some people’s going astray, and so both groups were