“Even if We had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken to them, and We had gathered all things before them face-to-face, they still would not have believed unless Allah so willed. But most of them are ignorant.”

Likewise, their making faith contingent solely upon their own will and volition, without relying upon Allah, is one of the gravest errors. Even if tremendous signs came to them—the angels descending to testify that the Messenger was indeed Allah’s messenger, the dead speaking and being raised after death, and every created thing being gathered before them until it spoke to them (1), visibly and directly, confirming the truth of what the Messenger had brought—they still would not believe if Allah did not will for them to believe. But most of them are ignorant.

They therefore made their faith contingent merely upon the coming of signs. Sound reason and true knowledge, however, require that a servant’s aim be to follow the truth, seek it through the means Allah has made clear, act upon it, and seek his Lord’s aid in following it. He must not rely upon himself or upon his own power and strength, nor demand signs of his own choosing that serve no benefit.