one another with alluring speech in order to deceive.” And Allah Most High said:

“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?”

Al-Mukhtār ibn Abī Ubayd was of this sort. Thus, when Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbās were told about him, one of them was told, “He claims to receive revelation.” He replied:

“Indeed, the devils inspire their allies to dispute with you.”

The other was told, “He says that it descends upon him.” He replied:

“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?”

Such people need the criterion grounded in faith, the Quran, Prophetic guidance, and revealed law more than others do. They have sensory perceptions—things they see and hear—and a person experiences sensory perceptions involuntarily, just as someone may see and hear things without choosing to do so. Likewise, those engaged in rational inquiry have their reasoning and rational knowledge, while those who rely on transmitted knowledge have reports passed down to them. These three are the means of acquiring knowledge: sensory perception, reports, and rational inquiry.

Everyone draws on these three to establish some things, but certain means predominate among certain people, whether in religious or nonreligious matters. Medicine, for example, involves experience and reasoning. Some practitioners rely predominantly on experience, while others rely predominantly on reasoning. Reasoning is rooted in experience, and experience necessarily involves reasoning, though of a kind resembling reasoning from customary regularities, in which the underlying cause and its relevance are not known. The practitioner of reasoning identifies the relevant cause and bases the judgment upon it. Reason is particularly concerned with reasoning, drawing comparisons, and universal propositions; it therefore requires sensory perceptions that