Further evidence of this is that the pagan Arabs, Jews and Christians affirm that Allah created the heavens and the earth by His will and power. Indeed, they say that He created them in six days. These philosophers, however, hold that He did not bring them into existence after they had not existed, let alone create them in six days. They then mislead Muslims by saying, “The world came into being,” meaning by its origination that it is the effect of an eternal cause. This amounts to saying that it is generated from Allah Most High. Yet this is a notion that has no reality and is unintelligible.
Moreover, the pagan Arabs and the People of the Book acknowledge the angels, although many of them regard angels and devils as a single kind of being: any angel who ceases to obey Allah is cast down and becomes a devil. They deny that Iblīs was the father of the jinn, and that jinn marry, are born, eat and drink. Yet these Christians who deny this, despite their disbelief, are better than these philosophers. For these philosophers recognize no reality to angels beyond the intellects and souls they affirm, or accidents inhering in bodies, such as good powers.
The same applies to the jinn: most of the former peoples affirm their existence, for the Arabs acknowledged the jinn, as do most of the People of the Book. These philosophers, however, do not acknowledge their existence, and regard devils as corrupt powers.
Furthermore, the pagan Arabs, along with the People of the Book, supplicate to Allah and affirm that He hears their supplications and answers them. These philosophers, however, hold that He knows none of the particulars of the world, nor does He hear anyone’s supplication