also deny causes and say that Allah acts when these causes are present, not through them. Thus, they say that Allah does not satisfy hunger through bread, quench thirst through water, or cause crops to grow through water; rather, He acts when these things are present, not through them. These people contradict the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations, as well as clear reason and sensory experience. For Allah says in His Book:

“And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy, until, when they carry heavy clouds, We drive them to a dead land and send down water through them, then bring forth through it every kind of fruit. Thus will We bring forth the dead, so that you may take heed.”

He thus states that He sends down water through the clouds and brings forth fruit through water. The Most High also says:

“And the water Allah sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after its death.”

And He says:

“And We sent down blessed water from the sky, causing gardens and grain for harvest to grow thereby.”

And He says:

“Fight them; Allah will punish them through your hands.”

And He says:

“There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.”

“Through it Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace.”

And He says:

“So they say, ‘What did Allah intend by this example?’ He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby.”

There are many such passages in the Quran.

People know through their senses and reason that some things are causes of others. They know, for example, that hunger is satisfied by eating, not by counting, and by eating food, not pebbles; and that water is a cause of life for plants and animals, as He says:

“And We made from water every living thing.”

They also know that an animal’s thirst is quenched by drinking water, not by walking. There are many such examples. A fuller discussion of these matters belongs elsewhere.