Muslim scholars, though the strength and breadth of their competence vary. The renowned imams are more capable than others of undertaking independent legal reasoning and reasoning from the evidence in most questions of religious law. But to claim that any one of them is capable of ascertaining Allah’s ruling on every religious issue from its evidence—whoever makes such a claim asserts something of which he has no knowledge (1); indeed, he asserts what he knows (2) to be false *) (3).

[Section: Jaʿfar al-Sādiq’s Agreement with the Rest of the Early Muslims Regarding the Quran]

(Section)

The point here is to say to this Imāmī and others like him: Debate these brethren of yours—the Rāfidah—concerning the doctrine of divine unity, establish proof that your position is correct, and then call others to it. Leave the adherents of the Sunnah alone and refrain from assailing them (4).

For these people say, “Our position concerning divine unity is the truth.” They (5) lived in the era of Jaʿfar al-Sādiq and his peers, and therefore claim to know the teachings of the imams better than you do. This is especially so since it has been widely transmitted from Jaʿfar al-Sādiq (6) that he was asked about the Quran, “Is it a creator or a created thing?”

He replied:

“It is neither a creator nor created; rather, it is the speech of Allah.”

(7 [This was among the precedents followed by Imām Ahmad during the Inquisition, for Jaʿfar 7)

(7)
ibn Muhammad is, by the consensus of the adherents of the Sunnah, one of the imams of the religion.