 Averroes affirms that natural substances, such as fire, are causes. Yet, he claims that, given fire’s nearness to cotton, it is not “absolutely necessary”, nor “absolutely certain” that the cotton burns. In this sentence, he seems to deny that causal connections are necessary connections. On the other hand, the reason he denies that fire’s nearness to cotton necessitates the burning of the cotton is that there may be an impediment: the cotton could be covered in talc, which hinders the action of the fire. And he suggests that, absent this impediment, the burning would certainly take place. So, while he initially seems to deny that causal connections are necessary connections, his overall argument suggests that he affirms this claim. Furthermore, his account of causal necessity involves a more nuanced version of al-Ghazālī’s claim (iii) above (that the affirmation of contact between fire and cotton entails the affirmation of the burning of the cotton). According to Averroes’ account of causal necessity, the affirmation of contact between fire and cotton, and the affirmation that there are no impediments, together entail the affirmation of the burning of the cotton.