his Companions or their Followers, nor of any of the imams whose opinions are relied upon, that they ever attached any part of the fundamentals of the religion—neither the proofs nor the issues themselves—to the very terms jawhar (substance), jism (body), tahayyuz (spatial confinement), ʿaraḍ (accident), and the like. Those who do employ such expressions, moreover, disagree about what they mean by them: at times because their technical conventions differ, and at times because they dispute over the very idea to which the word points. One of them will define jism (body) as “that which is composite,” after which they argue: is it a single substance, provided that it is composed? two or more substances? six? eight? or something else altogether? Another will say that it is “that in which the three dimensions can be conceived,” and that it is composed of matter and form. Yet another declares it to be “that which exists,” or “that which exists independently,” and maintains that nothing existent can be otherwise.

The early generations and the imams who censured and declared blameworthy discussion of “substance,” “body,” and “accident” were, in fact, condemning anyone who imports the notions intended by those terms into the fundamentals of the religion—into its evidences and its doctrines alike, whether in affirmation or in negation. If, however, the sound meanings established by the Quran and the Sunnah are first ascertained, and these meanings are then explained—using that same vocabulary—to people who understand it, so that what in their concepts accords with the truth is made clear and what contradicts it is likewise exposed, this is of immense benefit. It is part of judging among people by the Book concerning the matters over which they differ, as the Most High says: “Mankind were once a single community; then Allah sent the prophets, bearing glad tidings and warning, and with them He sent down the Book in truth so that it might judge between people regarding all that they differed about” (al-Baqarah 2:213). The same principle applies when one judges between the other nations by means of the Book about the concepts they express in their own terminology and accepted usage. Such an endeavor requires knowledge of the meanings of the Book and the Sunnah, as well as knowledge of the meanings these people intend