to judge between people concerning their disputes,” and so on in the verse. He also said:

“We certainly sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance, so that people might uphold justice.”

And He said:

“If you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger,” and so on in the verse.

In His Book, Allah has set forth illustrative examples and rational arguments through which truth can be distinguished from falsehood. Allah has commanded unity and harmony, forbidden division and disagreement, and declared that those granted His mercy do not disagree. He said:

“They will continue to disagree, except those upon whom your Lord has mercy.”

Thus, those who follow the Messenger most closely have fewer disagreements than any of the groups professing adherence to the sunnah. The closer people are to the sunnah, the fewer their disagreements compared with those further removed from it, such as the Muʿtazilah and the Rāfidah, whom we find to be the groups with the most disagreements.

As for the disagreements among the philosophers, no one can enumerate them. In his Kitāb al-Maqālāt (Book of Doctrines), Imam Abū al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī discussed “the doctrines of non-Muslims,” presenting a vast number beyond those mentioned by al-Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā. Likewise, Qādī Abū Bakr ibn al-Tayyib did so in his book al-Daqāʾiq (Subtle Matters), in which he refuted the philosophers and astrologers and argued for the superiority of the logic of the Arab speculative theologians over Greek logic. The speculative theologians of the Muʿtazilah, the Shīʿah, and others likewise did so in their refutations of the philosophers. Al-Ghazālī also wrote al-Tahāfut (The Incoherence) to refute them. Muslim scholars engaged in rational inquiry have continually written works refuting their logic and exposing their errors