Many Islamic reformers argued that Athari theology was more agreeable to reason than the speculative theology of the late Sunni tradition. Rida, for example, confessed that the Hanbalis’ opposition to "kalam" had puzzled him in his youth. He had assumed that they were a stagnant group of people who adhered to the literal meaning of texts, who did not truly understand them, who were ignorant of the inherent truths of science, and who could not conciliate Islam and modern knowledge. However, he later came to the conclusion that Hanbali theology provided a more solid and reliable basis for faith than Ash'ari beliefs. Reading Hanbali books, he wrote, was like walking on a straight path, whereas reading Ash'ari ones amounted to swimming in a deep sea, where one has to struggle against the waves of philosophical doubts and the currents of theoretical investigation. In his writings, which were widely read among reformers throughout the Muslim world, Rida repeatedly explained that the Salafi creed was easier to understand than speculative theology (and thus provided a stronger bulwark against the threat of atheism), had a greater claim to orthodoxy, and was less divisive and more conducive to progress and happiness in this world.