“Then We sent down with it water, and by it We brought forth every kind of fruit. Thus shall We raise the dead, so that you may take admonition.”

Likewise, He says:

“And it is Allah who sends the winds; they stir up clouds, and We drive them to a dead land, then by them We revive the earth after its death. Such is the Resurrection.”

We have discussed this proof and others like it in detail elsewhere, and have shown that whatever rational arguments the leading dialecticians among the theologians and philosophers advance concerning divine matters, the Qur’an has already conveyed the truth they contain—only in a form that is more complete, more eloquent, and altogether superior, while remaining free of the grave errors that mar their discourse. Their mistakes in these matters are exceedingly numerous; indeed, their misguidance may well outweigh their guidance, and their ignorance may exceed their knowledge.

For this reason Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Rāzī (d. 606 AH) said near the end of his life, in his book “Aqsām al-Ladhdhāt”:

“I have examined the dialectical methods and the philosophical systems, yet I found in them no cure for the ailing, no water for the thirsty. I realized that the nearest path is the way of the Qur’an. I read, in affirmation:
‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne’ (Q 20:5),
‘To Him ascend the good words’ (Q 35:10).
And I read, in negation:
‘There is nothing like unto Him’ (Q 42:11),
‘And they do not encompass Him in knowledge’ (Q 20:110).
Whoever has tasted what I have tasted will know what I know.”

Refutation of establishing external possibility merely through lack of awareness of impossibility

What concerns us here is that external possibility is known through actual existence, not simply through the absence of proof of impossibility, as a group among them—such as al-Āmidī—maintain. When they wish to establish that something is possible, they say, “If …”