I have explained this meaning at length elsewhere and shown that the call of the prophets, peace be upon them, followed the path of innate human disposition, as in their words:

“Is there any doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?”

And the words of Moses:

“Lord of the heavens and the earth.”

And His words in the Quran:

“Worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous.”

“Who made the earth a resting place for you.”

He made clear that these very entities are signs pointing to Allah, as we indicated earlier, without any need for those two stages of argument. When He rebuked them, He made their need for the Creator clear through their own selves, without requiring a universal premise under which they and all its other instances fall equally. Indeed, their own case is clearer. I have established this meaning at length elsewhere.

The second point of difference between the Quranic method and the method of speculative theology is that Allah commanded people to worship Him, which is the perfection, soundness, ultimate purpose, and final end of their souls. He did not stop at merely acknowledging Him, as is the ultimate aim of the method of speculative theology. Thus, its proponents accord with the Quranic method neither in their means nor in their ends. As we have indicated, the Quranic means accord with innate human disposition, are direct, and lead to the very One sought. Their means, by contrast, are syllogistic and remote, leading only to the general category of what is sought, not to the particular One Himself.

As for the ends, the Quran speaks of knowing Him and acting for His sake. It thus brings together the two human faculties of knowledge and action: the sensory and voluntary motor faculties, the cognitive and intentional faculties, and the verbal and practical faculties. Thus He says:

“Worship your Lord.”

Worship necessarily involves knowing Him, turning to Him, humbling oneself before Him, and recognizing one’s need for Him. This is the intended goal. The method of speculative theology, however, yields only acknowledgment and admission of His existence.