contradicts his religion, peace be upon him. In short, we do not declare them unbelievers because they depart from the apparent meanings of the texts, but because of consensus in the manner just explained. No comparable consensus exists concerning the disagreements within the Muslim community, so it does not follow that we must declare its members unbelievers.”

These are the words of Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Rāzī. A group of philosophers have advanced claims concerning creation and the hereafter comparable to those he advanced concerning the divine attributes and divine decree. This was mentioned by al-Hafīd, whose words were quoted earlier. He also mentioned it in his book in which he claimed to reconcile revealed law and philosophy, when presenting the account of their views that will be quoted below. There he explained how close the two groups’ positions are, and how both depart from the apparent meaning of revelation, continuing to the words:

“How, then, can it be conceived that consensus was reached on the theologians’ interpretation of these verses, when the apparent meaning that