Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

Section: On the sufficiency of the message and of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—without the need to follow anyone else in all matters.

Allah established the proof against His creation through His messengers. He, the Exalted, said:

“Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him,”

up to His words:

“so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers.”

This verse indicates that, after the messengers, people have no argument under any circumstances, but that they may have had an argument before the messengers. The “first” point refutes those who maintain that people have a universal need for others besides the messengers, such as the imams. The “second” refutes those philosophers and speculative theologians who hold that the proof was established against people before the messengers.