and it has been shown that all these views are mistaken, contrary to the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations and the leading scholars—indeed, they are also rationally unsound. This verse is among the evidence for that, for the first obligation Allah imposed upon His Messenger and the believers was what He commanded in His words:

“Recite in the name of your Lord who created.”

Those who maintain that knowledge can be attained only through rational inquiry argue: “If it could be attained otherwise, the obligation to attain it would lapse.” Judge Abū Bakr and others have stated this.

They may be answered as follows: Nothing in the accounts of the messengers that Allah has related to us indicates that any of them made this knowledge obligatory. Rather, all nations already possessed it.

Most messengers, however, began their call by commanding people to worship Allah alone and none besides Him, as Allah relates concerning Noah, Hūd, Sālih, and Shuayb. Their peoples acknowledged the Creator, but they associated partners with Him, worshipping others besides Him. Such was also the case with the Arabs among whom Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent.

Some unbelievers professed denial of the Creator, such as Pharaoh, who said:

“O chiefs, I know of no god for you other than myself. So, Hāmān, fire bricks for me and build me a lofty tower, so that I may look upon the God of Moses; indeed, I think he is one of