Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said:

Section

Judge Abū Ya‘lā said in ‘Uyūn al-Masā’il:

Issue

“Those who affirm prophethood have attained knowledge of Allah Most High through the establishment of prophethood, without examining rational proofs or reasoning from them. This is contrary to the Ash‘arīs, who maintain that such knowledge cannot be attained until one examines rational proofs and reasons from them.”

He also said:

“We do not deny the validity of rational inquiry, nor do we deny that knowledge can be attained through it. Our disagreement concerns only whether knowledge can be attained without it.”

He argued that once prophethood is established by the occurrence of a miracle, we know that there is a Sender who sent the prophet, since there can be no prophet without a Sender. Once the existence of a Sender is established, this dispenses with the need to examine rational proofs and reason from them to establish His existence.