and form, not of indivisible atoms.

Many practitioners of speculative theology, as well as others, say that bodies are composed neither of the one nor of the other—neither of this nor of that. This is the view of the Hishāmiyyah, the Kullābiyyah, the Dirāriyyah, and other major schools, which subscribe neither to the theory of indivisible atoms nor to that of matter and form. Others claim that the Muslims unanimously affirm the existence of indivisible atoms. Thus, Abū al-Ma‘ālī and others said:

“The Muslims agree that the division and subdivision of bodies reaches a limit at which they become indivisible atoms.”

Yet he himself doubted this, as did Abū al-Husayn al-Basrī and Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Rāzī. It is well known that none of the leading authorities of the Muslims held this view: neither the Companions, nor those who followed them in righteousness, nor any of the scholars renowned among the Muslims. The first to advance this view within Islam were a group from among the Jahmiyyah and the Mu‘tazilah. This is among the speculative theology that the early generations condemned and criticized. However, since the person reporting this consensus knew the fundamentals of religion only through books of speculative theology, and found only people who held this view, he believed it to represent the consensus of the Muslims.

The theory of indivisible atoms is false, and the theory of prime matter and form is false. These doctrines have been discussed at length elsewhere.