, because we have already cited it and refuted it. His exact words were:

“The proof drawn from this verse is that Allah, Exalted be He, approved what they said and did not rebut them!”

I reply: This line of reasoning is invalid for two reasons:

First: It is unsound to regard the lack of rebuttal as tacit approval unless it is first established that those in question were believers, righteous, and faithful to the law of their prophet. The verse, however, offers not the slightest indication that they were so; indeed, it is more likely that they were not. The nearer possibility is that they were disbelievers or evildoers, as has already been stated by Ibn Rajab, Ibn Kathir, and others. In that case, the absence of divine censure is not approval but condemnation, for merely attributing a statement to unbelievers and wrongdoers is sufficient to discredit it. Accordingly, silence about it cannot be deemed endorsement, as is obvious, and this will be further reinforced by the next point.

Second: The argument in question carries weight only with the sectarians of past and present who confine themselves to the Quran alone