—and even if he were an Arab—for the Quran contains uncommon expressions that do not belong to his own dialect—it would still be incumbent upon us to clarify their meaning for him. Should he hear the wording, as many people do, yet fail to grasp its sense and then ask us to interpret and explain it, that duty rests with us.

Likewise, if he were to pose a question that casts doubt on the Quran, we must answer it, just as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to respond whenever some of the idolaters, the People of the Book, or even Muslims raised an objection concerning the Quran. He would dispel their doubts—just as he replied to Ibn az-Zibʿarī when the latter likened the Messiah to the idols of the pagans, assuming that the sole operative cause in the original case was merely that they were objects of worship and therefore that every being worshipped besides Allah would be punished in the Hereafter. Thus he treated the Messiah as an exemplar for the pagans’ deities, analogizing them to him as a branch is compared to its root.