that he debated the angels about this, challenging Allah Most High concerning His creation and His commands. Yet this debate between Iblīs and the angels, which al-Shahrastānī mentions at the beginning of his work on religious doctrines and transmits from some of the People of the Book, has no reliable chain of transmission. Even if we found it in the books of the People of the Book, that alone would not justify accepting it as true. For it is reliably reported in the authentic collection that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“When the People of the Book tell you something, neither affirm nor deny it, for they may tell you something true and you reject it, or tell you something false and you accept it.”

It appears—and Allah knows best—that this debate was fabricated by some who deny divine decree, whether from the People of the Book or from the Muslims. Al-Shahrastānī transmitted it from works on religious doctrines. Writers on religious doctrines draw many of their accounts from Muʿtazilite books, just as al-Ashʿarī and others drew the accounts they presented in their works on religious doctrines from Muʿtazilite books. For the Muʿtazilah were among the earliest and most prolific groups to write on this subject. Hence these doctrines are found transmitted in their wording.

They thus fabricated this debate, putting its words into the mouth of Iblīs, just as we have seen many of them compose a book or a poem in the voice of a Jew or someone else. Their purpose is to refute those who affirm divine decree. They say that Allah’s case against His creation can only be established by denying divine decree. Likewise, among the accusations they fabricated to disparage Ibn Kullāb was that he was a Christian, because he affirmed the divine attributes; in their view, whoever affirms the attributes resembles the Christians. Such stories are accepted by some who profess adherence to the Sunnah but do not know their true nature.

The point here is that this noble verse is evidence against both groups:

It is evidence against those who invoke divine decree as an excuse, for Allah Most High states that He punished them for their sins. Had their argument been acceptable,