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The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error_and_50_Principles, page : 76
the Mu`tazilah. “It is a duty to refute heresy”, al-Harith replied. “Certainly”, said
Ahmad, “but first you give an account of their false doctrines and afterwards a
refutation of them. How can you be sure what men will do? A man might read
the false doctrines and grasp them with his understanding without afterwards
reading the refutation; or he might peruse the refutation without understanding
its full import‟.
Ahmad‟s observation is justified, but it applies to false doctrines that are not
widely and generally known. Where such doctrine is widely known, it ought to
be refuted, and refutation necessitates a statement of the original doctrine.
Certainly, no one should undertake to elaborate on behalf of a false doctrine
where its author does not elaborate. I personally did not do that. I had already
heard the false doctrine from someone who frequented my company after
contacting them and adopting their faith. He related how they used to laugh at
the works composed to refute their views, since the authors had not
comprehended their proof; he mentioned that proof and gave a summary of it.
As I could not be satisfied with the possibility of neglecting the essential basis
of their proof, or of having heard it and failed to understand it, I repeated it in
Ahmad, “but first you give an account of their false doctrines and afterwards a
refutation of them. How can you be sure what men will do? A man might read
the false doctrines and grasp them with his understanding without afterwards
reading the refutation; or he might peruse the refutation without understanding
its full import‟.
Ahmad‟s observation is justified, but it applies to false doctrines that are not
widely and generally known. Where such doctrine is widely known, it ought to
be refuted, and refutation necessitates a statement of the original doctrine.
Certainly, no one should undertake to elaborate on behalf of a false doctrine
where its author does not elaborate. I personally did not do that. I had already
heard the false doctrine from someone who frequented my company after
contacting them and adopting their faith. He related how they used to laugh at
the works composed to refute their views, since the authors had not
comprehended their proof; he mentioned that proof and gave a summary of it.
As I could not be satisfied with the possibility of neglecting the essential basis
of their proof, or of having heard it and failed to understand it, I repeated it in