Sermon 18
Imam said in disparagement of the differences of view among the theologians.
When a problem is put before anyone of them he passes judgement on it from his imagination. When exactly the same problem is placed before another of them he passes an opposite verdict. Then these judges go to the chief who had appointed them and he confirms all the verdicts, although their Allah is One , their Prophet is one , their Book is one .
Is it that Allah ordered them to differ and they obeyed Him? Or He prohibited them from it but they disobeyed Him? Or (is it that) Allah sent an incomplete Faith and sought their help to complete it? Or they are His partners in the affairs, so that it is their share of duty to pronounce and He has to agree? Or is it that Allah the Glorified sent a perfect faith but the Prophet fell short of conveying it and handing it over (to the people)? The fact is that Allah the Glorified says:
“We have not neglected anything in the Book “ (Quran, 6:38)
And says that one part of the Quran verifies another part and that there is no divergence in it as He says:
“And if it had been from any other than Allah, they would surely have found in it much discrepancy. (Quran, 4 :82)
Certainly the outside of the Quran is wonderful and its inside is deep (in meaning). Its wonders will never disappear, its amazements will never pass away and its intricacies cannot be cleared except through itself.