Section: The claim that the prophet Habakkuk said, “Allah appears on the earth, mingles with people, and walks among them.”

They say:

Habakkuk the prophet declared,
“Allah is on the earth; He shows Himself, mixes with the people, and walks alongside them.”

And Jeremiah the prophet said,
“After this, Allah will appear on the earth and move about with humankind, saying, ‘I am Allah, the Lord of lords.’”

The reply:

Before anything else, one must prove that these two men were indeed prophets, establish that the words have been soundly transmitted from them, and confirm that the translation in circulation is both accurate and faithful. Only then can these statements be treated in the same way as comparable passages. The Torah contains texts of this sort, yet by the unanimous agreement of Muslims, Jews, and Christians none of that indicates that Allah indwelt Moses—or any other prophet of the Children of Israel.

Rather, the expression “He appears” is equivalent to “He manifests Himself” and “He reveals Himself.” Indeed, the Torah states that He manifested Himself and appeared to Abraham and to other prophets as well.