al-Intisār (The Defence) a statement from al-Shāfiʿī like the one I had cited. Then, at the third gathering, Ibn al-Wakīl raised the matter again.

Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn said to Sadr al-Dīn ibn al-Wakīl: “At that gathering, you told Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn that whoever says that a single letter of the Quran is created is a disbeliever.” He repeated this several times. At this point, Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn became extremely angry, raised his voice, and said:

“This declares our fellow Ashʿarī theologians disbelievers—those who say that the letters of the Quran are created, such as Imām al-Haramayn and others. We will not tolerate our fellows being declared disbelievers.”

Ibn al-Wakīl denied having said that, saying: “I did not say that. I only said that whoever denies a single letter of the Quran has disbelieved.”

Those present rejected his denial and said: “What you said was precisely such-and-such.” They also said: “You should not make a statement and then retract it.”

One of them said: “He did not say this.” Then, when they distorted the account, he said: “We did not hear him say this.” Eventually, the sultan’s deputy said: “One man lies, and another bears witness!”

Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn, still angry, turned to the Shāfiʿī chief judge, Najm al-Dīn, urgently appealing for his support against Ibn al-Wakīl for having declared his fellows disbelievers.

Judge Najm al-Dīn said: “I did not hear this.”

Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn became angry and said something whose exact wording I did not retain, but whose meaning was that this was a slight upon al-Shāfiʿī and a disgrace to them: their leading scholars were being declared disbelievers, yet no one came to their defence.

I did not hear what Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn said concerning Judge Najm al-Dīn. Other attendees were asked whether they had heard him say anything about the judge. They said: “No.” But the judge believed