Skepticism in Islam -- Words, words, words -- Baghdad in its beginnings -- Theological controversy -- Theo-political controversy -- Skepticism -- Islam the civilization: Abu 'Uuthman 'Amr al-Jahiz (d. 869) -- Anti-anthropomorphism -- More anti-anthropomorphism -- Skepticism and sufism -- Sufism and the legacy of confusion -- Christians as source of confusion -- -- A world without words -- Baghdad beyond beliefs -- The philosophy of rule -- Philosophy as arbiter of beliefs -- Skeptical confusion reconfigured -- Skepticism defined -- The brethren of purity: one response to the equivalence of evidence -- Abu l-Hasan al-'Amiri (d. 992): another response to the equivalence of evidence -- Truths beyond words, truths beyond ideas -- Baghdad bewildered -- Reviver of Islam: Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (d. 1111) -- The synthesis -- The challenge of Avicenna -- Learned ignorance -- Reasoned reflection on God's creation -- The logic of skepticism -- The logic of prophecy -- Philosophy condemned? -- Philosophical prophecy -- Divine speaking and human thinking in tandem.