Most High:

“And if they deny you, messengers before you were also denied.”

And He, Most High, said:

“And if they deny you, those before them also denied. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs, scriptures, and the enlightening Book.”

There are many such passages, whose detailed discussion belongs elsewhere. The point is that these mistaken people, who have turned away from the rational arguments and conclusive proofs in the Quran, make no mention of the rational inquiry, evidence, and knowledge brought by the Messenger, although the Quran is full of these. The speculative theologians acknowledge the rational arguments in the Quran that establish the foundations of religion, yet they follow other methods, such as the argument from accidents. Some imagine that this was the method of Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, but they are mistaken.

The philosophers say that the Quran employs rhetorical methods and persuasive premises that convince the general public. They say that the speculative theologians employ dialectical methods, while claiming that they themselves possess conclusive demonstration. Yet they are further removed from demonstration in matters of theology than the speculative theologians, who have greater demonstrative knowledge of theology and universals than they do. The philosophers do, however, engage extensively and in detail with natural philosophy, in which they have distinguished themselves. Theology is quite another matter: they are among the most ignorant of people concerning it and the furthest from knowing the truth about it. Their teacher Aristotle’s discussion of it is scant and full of errors. It is like lean camel meat atop a rugged mountain: the mountain is not easy to climb, nor is the meat fat enough to be worth seeking. This is discussed at length elsewhere.