for the Muslims.

“It is not a fabricated account, but a confirmation of what came before it, a detailed explanation of all things, and guidance and mercy for people who believe.”

Only those deficient in their reasoning and listening suppose that the Book and wisdom do not explain these matters—those to whom the words of the people of the Fire apply in some measure:

“If only we had listened or reasoned, we would not be among the inhabitants of the Blaze.”

This deficiency is nevertheless widespread among many who engage in philosophy and speculative theology, and among the ignorant adherents of hadith, jurisprudence, and Sufism.

As for the second category—the evidence for these fundamental questions—some groups of speculative theologians and philosophers suppose that revelation provides evidence only through truthful reports. Its evidentiary force, they argue, therefore depends on knowing that the one conveying it is truthful, and they regard the grounds for establishing his truthfulness as purely rational propositions. They have made a grave error in this; indeed, they have plainly gone astray in supposing that the Book and Sunnah provide evidence only through reports alone.

Rather, the truth is what the early generations of this community and its leading scholars—people of knowledge and faith—held: Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has explained the rational evidence needed to understand these matters to an extent that none of these people properly appreciates. The utmost that they present is distilled in the Quran in the finest manner. This includes the illustrative examples that Allah Most High sets forth in His Book, concerning which He says:

“We have certainly set forth for people in this Quran every kind of example.”

These illustrative examples are “rational inferences,” whether syllogistic or analogical. They include what they call demonstrative proofs, namely