the followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad. These scholars do not dispute that good and evil (1), when understood to mean what is agreeable and what is contrary, may be known through reason. Likewise, they do not dispute—or most or many of them do not dispute—that when this is understood to mean that something is an attribute of perfection or an attribute of deficiency (2), it may be known through reason.
The second position is that reason is such that the goodness and evil of many acts [may] be known [by it] (3), both with respect to Allah and with respect to His servants. Although this is the position of the Muʿtazila, it is also the position of the Karrāmiyya and other [sects] (4). It is likewise the position of the majority of the Hanafīs and many followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī (5), and Ahmad, such as Abū Bakr al-Abharī (6) and other followers of Mālik; Abū al-Hasan al-Tamīmī; and Abū al-Khattāb [al-Kalwadhānī] (7), [among the followers of Ahmad] (8). He stated that this [position] is the position (9) held by most scholars,
(1) N reads: “regarding goodness and evil.”
(2) N reads: “contradiction,” which is a textual corruption.
(3) N reads: “that reason knows the goodness of many [acts].”
(4) “Among the sects” is added in A and B.
(5) N reads: “and al-Shāfiʿī and Mālik.”
(6) Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn Sālih al-Tamīmī al-Mālikī al-Abharī was born in 289 AH and died in 375 AH. His name refers to Abhar, a small town near Zanjān. See *Muʿjam al-Buldān* (Dictionary of Countries), entry “Abhar”; Ibn al-Athīr, *al-Lubāb fī Tahdhīb al-Ansāb* (The Quintessence in the Refinement of Genealogies), 1/20; *al-Dībāj al-Mudhahhab* (The Gilded Brocade), pp. [0–9]55–258; and *al-Aʿlām* (Notable Figures), 7/98.
(7) N reads: “and Abū al-Khattāb”; A reads: “and al-Khattāb al-Kalwadhānī”; B reads: “and Abū al-Khattāb al-Kalwādhī.” He was Abū al-Khattāb al-Kalwadhānī, also called al-Kalwadhī and al-Kalwādhānī. He was previously introduced (p. [0–9]44, n. [0–9]). His name refers to Kalwādhā, a village formerly situated near Baghdad that was later destroyed. See *Muʿjam al-Buldān* (Dictionary of Countries), entry “Kalwādhā”; and Ibn al-Athīr, *Lubāb al-Ansāb* (The Quintessence of Genealogies), 3/49.
(8) “Among the followers of Ahmad” is absent from N.
(9) N reads: “that this is the position of…”