eternal and beginningless, and that its time is beginningless. They thus went plainly astray, contradicting the authentic, mass-transmitted reports from the prophets—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—as well as the clear conclusions of reason accepted by most rational people, past and present.

Another group supposed that motion, occurrences, and action, considered as kinds, could exist only after none of them had existed; or that the agent of all things must have been eternally inactive, and that occurrences then came about without any cause whatsoever, action passed from impossibility to possibility without any cause, and the agent became capable after not having been so, without any cause. They supposed that something came into existence after not existing, outside time, and held similar notions that contradict clear reason.

Yet they imagine that this is the position of the adherents of the revealed religions—Muslims, Jews, and Christians. But this view has not been transmitted from Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—or from any of their companions. Rather, it is something introduced by certain adherents of religious innovation and spread among those ignorant of what the messengers and their companions actually taught. They therefore supposed that this was the teaching of the messengers—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them.

Attributing this view to the messengers and their followers thus leads to impugning them: either for not knowing the truth concerning these lofty questions, or for failing to explain it. In the eyes of these people, either charge warrants setting aside the Book, the Sunnah, and the reports from the early generations as sources of guidance.