those groups. Indeed, he also has no knowledge of the actual doctrines of the leading scholars of his own school, such as “Abū Muhammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘īd ibn Kullāb,” “Abū al-‘Abbās al-Qalānisī,” and others like them. Nor does he know the actual doctrines of “al-Ash‘arī” as set out in his own books. Hence, he quotes nothing directly from “al-Ash‘arī’s” own writings, such as “al-Mūjaz,” “al-Maqālāt,” “al-Ibānah,” “al-Luma‘,” and others.

Indeed, as for many of the doctrines of the leading Ash‘arī scholars on this subject and other questions concerning the divine attributes, divine decree, and other matters, he was unfamiliar with [them], as his writings show. Moreover, his knowledge of the doctrines of non-Muslims is limited to what he knows of the doctrines of the philosophers