The reply is:

“Affirming the Messenger’s truthfulness is not founded upon any specific disputed propositions. Rather, the things that proponents of innovated speculative theology have made a foundation for knowing the Messenger’s truthfulness—such as the claim made by some of the Mu‘tazila and Jahmiyya:

‘The Messenger’s truthfulness cannot be known unless it is known that the universe came into being; this cannot be known unless it is known (1) that bodies came into being; and this cannot be known except through knowledge (2) that they are never devoid of temporal occurrences—whether accidents in general, spatial states (3), or motions. The origination of these cannot be known (4) until it is known that a beginningless succession of temporal occurrences is impossible. Nor can the Messenger be known to be truthful until it is known that the Lord is self-sufficient, and His self-sufficiency cannot be known until it is known that He is not a body’—

and similar matters, which a group of speculative theologians allege to be principles necessary for affirming the Messenger’s truthfulness, without which his truthfulness cannot be known, are things concerning which it is necessarily known from the Messenger’s religion that he did not make people’s faith contingent upon them. Indeed, he did not even call people to them. They are mentioned neither in the Book nor in the Sunnah, nor did any of the Companions mention them. Rather, the principles by which the Messenger’s truthfulness is known (5) are stated in the Quran, and they are other than these, as has been explained (6) elsewhere.

Those who devised principles, claiming that the Messenger’s truthfulness cannot be affirmed without them and that knowing them is either a condition of faith or an individual obligation, are among the people of