alone. These are the ignorant delegators (ahl al-tajhīl wa-t-tafwīḍ). Some of them contradict themselves, saying, “Allah knows best what He intended,” yet insisting that He did not intend to affirm for Himself any external attribute.

Category Five: Those who maintain that these texts may be meant to affirm an attribute befitting Allah Most High—or they may not. Many jurists and others hold this view.

Category Six: Those who turn away with their hearts and hold their tongues concerning all of this, limiting themselves to reciting the texts without expressing any opinion about them.1

All of these categories, apart from the first, are invalid, as has been shown elsewhere.