divine matters. Those who engage in rational inquiry, by contrast, seldom attain such certainty. If this is so, then even if self-discipline is not the sole means of knowing Allah Most High, it is at least one of the means that yield knowledge of Him. Thus, the argument you have presented is invalid.”

In reply to this, he said: “As for his statement, ‘Why cannot purification be a means of acquiring knowledge?’ we say: The beliefs attained through purification either constitute immediate knowledge or they do not. If they do, we have no dispute. From what we have said, it is clear that inferential knowledge can become immediate. If they do not constitute immediate knowledge, then either the loss of those beliefs necessarily entails the loss of some immediate knowledge, or it does not. If it does, then that knowledge was acquired only on the basis of that immediate knowledge, and this is precisely what inferential knowledge means. If it does not, then those beliefs are merely beliefs accepted on authority, and no weight can be attached to them. Similar beliefs may arise among practitioners of self-discipline who follow falsehood, such as the Jews