The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

T H E D E V I L ' S
D E C E P T I O N S
Section One:
[Devil's Deception of Intellectuals
As for the second path: Just as Iblis was able to deceive
simpleminded folks into practicing taqlid, he was also able to deceive
those with some intelligence. He did so to his best of ability.
Iblis deceived some to reject imitation and encouraged them to
contemplate in a particular field of thought. He made some believe
that it is a sign of weakness to adhe _
re to the apparent meanings of
religious verses, so he directed them towards the way of philosophers
- to the point of taking them out of the fold of Islam. We
have previously mentioned this when refuting philosophers.
He whispered to others not to believe in anything that is intangible.
We say to this group: Did you use tangible means to verify this
opinion of yours? If they say: 'Yes', they would be arrogant and not
willing to accept the truth. And if they say: 'No', then they would go
against their principle.
Iblis swayed others to reject imitation and to dwell into sciences
of kaldm (theological rhetorics and deductive reasoning). They
thought that this would remove them from the ranks of laypeople.
Mutakallimin were of different types. Most of them ended up in
doubt and atheism.
In was not out of weakness that early scholars of Islam remained
quiet regarding the harm of kakim. Rather they saw that it did not
provide satisfactory answers, and converted truth into falsehood, so
they remained silent about it and encouraged others not to dwell
into it. Al-Shafi