—without twisting the words or stripping them of their meaning. Rather, I hold that Allah—“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”—can neither be denied what He has affirmed for Himself nor have His words wrested from their proper sense. I do not deviate with respect to His names and signs, I do not ask how, and I do not liken His attributes to those of His creation, for He—exalted be He—has no peer, no equal, and no rival, and He is not to be compared with His creatures. He knows Himself and all else best; His word is truest and His speech most excellent. He has declared Himself far above what the proponents of takyif (specifying “how”) and tamthil (likening) attribute to Him, and far above what the proponents of tahrif (distortion) and taʿtil (negation) deny of Him, saying: “Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” 1

The Saved Sect stands in the middle ground concerning Allah’s actions, between the Qadariyyah and the Jabriyyah; in regard to Allah’s threat, between the Murjiʾah and the Waʿidiyyah; in matters of faith and religion, between the Khawarij and the Muʿtazilah, and between the Murjiʾah and the Jahmiyyah; and with respect to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, between the Rafidah and the Khawarij.

I believe that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah, sent down and uncreated; it originated with Him and to Him it shall return. He spoke it in reality and revealed it to His servant and Messenger, the trustee of His revelation and the envoy between Him and His servant—our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

I believe that Allah does whatever He wills; nothing occurs except by His will; nothing escapes His volition. Nothing in the universe falls outside His decree, and nothing comes to be except through His governance. No one can evade the allotted decree or overstep what has been inscribed for him in the Preserved Tablet.

I affirm all that the Messenger ﷺ has informed of concerning what comes after death: I believe in the trial of the grave and its bliss, in the return of souls to bodies, and that people will rise before the Lord—