as for the trick of doubt its meaning is that the supplicant should after familiarizing himself strive to change the belief of the respondent by shaking his belief in what he is determined to do. his way is to begin by asking him about the wisdom in the established provisions of the sharia and the obscure issues and about the ambiguous verses and everything in which a reasonable meaning does not arise. so he says about the meaning of the ambiguous what is the meaning of alif lam ra kaf ha ya ain sad ha mim ain sin qaf and other than that from the beginnings of the surahs? and it is said do you think that the designation of these letters occurred according to the slip of the tongue or the intention to designate them for secrets? it is deposited under it and has not been found anywhere else. i do not think that this would be a joke or a useless frivolity and would cast doubt on the rulings.
وأما حيلة التشكيك فمعناه ان الداعي ينبغي له بعد التأنيس ان يجتهد في تغيير اعتقاد المستجيب بان يزلزل عقيدته فيما هو مصمم عليه وسبيله ان يبتدئه بالسؤال عن الحكمة في مقررات الشرائع وغوامض المسائل وعن المتشابه من الايات وكل ما لا ينقدح فيه معنى معقول فيقول في معنى المتشابه ما معنى الر وكهيعص وحم عسق الى غير ذلك من اوائل السور ويقال أترى ان تعيين هذه الحروف جرى وفقا بسبق اللسان او قصد تعيينها لاسرار هي مودعة تحتها لم تصادف في غيرها وما عندي ان ذلك يكون هزلا وعبثا بلا فائدة ويشكك في الاحكام