ugliness over beauty, and falsehood over truth. They have selected, from all possible creeds, the most baseless, and from all possible deeds, the most repugnant; their bishops, patriarchs, and monks are unanimous in this, to say nothing of their layfolk and rabble.

Section

No Muslim has ever asserted that every one of the people you mentioned—young and old, male and female, free and slave, monk and priest—has had guidance clearly set before him. Most of them are ignorant, little better than grazing cattle; they turn away from seeking guidance, let alone having it clarified for them. They merely imitate their leaders, elders, and scholars (1)—and these last are but a tiny minority. It is they who, once the truth had become manifest, chose disbelief over faith.

What difficulty does this pose to sound reason? There have always been people who choose falsehood. Some do so out of ignorance, blindly following someone they trust; others, despite knowing it is false, embrace it out of arrogance and the desire to feel superior. Still others are driven by greed, hoping for food, wealth, status, or authority. Some are motivated by envy and spite; some by attachment to a face they find attractive and by infatuation; some by fear; and some merely for ease and comfort. Thus, the motives for embracing unbelief are by no means confined to the love of power and livelihood alone (2)… (3)