the corner next to it on the Black Stone side the Syrian corner; and if that one is called the Syrian corner, this one is called the Iraqi corner. This Syrian–Iraqi corner faces north, towards the celestial pole. Thus, the Kaaba can be used to determine directions, and directions can be used to locate it. Things whose duration is shorter than that of the Kaaba, such as buildings in towns and trees, can serve as indications for a correspondingly shorter period. One might say, for example, that a particular house can be identified by a tree at its entrance with such-and-such characteristics. The two remain connected for a certain period. This and similar cases involve inferring one of two necessarily connected things from the other, both being specific particulars. This is not analogical reasoning.

For this reason, Muslim scholars of rational inquiry departed from their method and said:

Evidence is that which guides one to what is sought and leads one to the intended conclusion. It is something knowledge of which entails knowledge of what is sought, or something whose sound examination leads to knowledge or to a belief judged more likely to be true. They have a terminological disagreement over whether this second kind should be called evidence or given the distinct designation of a sign. The majority call both kinds evidence, while some speculative theologians apply the term only to the first.

The criterion for evidence is that it entails what it indicates. Anything that entails something else can therefore be used as evidence for it. If the entailment runs in both directions, either can be used as evidence for the other: one reasons from whichever of the two one knows to the other, which one does not know. If the entailment is conclusive, the evidence is conclusive; but if it is apparent