So, if they come to believe that He is truly united with one of these bodies, as the Christians claim with respect to the Messiah, then in fact no god remains save that created human body itself. The misguided person merely supposes it to be “the Lord of all worlds,” just as the worshipers of the Calf imagined the calf to be the god of Moses. Accordingly, if it is permissible for the Lord—glorified and exalted—to unite with a body, those who followed the Calf cannot be faulted for allowing that the Lord of all worlds might have united with the calf, especially after they had witnessed from it a certain breach of the normal order. Hence the Christians have no basis for censuring the worshipers of the Calf, or the worshipers of any idol whatsoever, so long as it remains possible in their view that the Lord—mighty and majestic—may have indwelt it, unless they can furnish proof that He did not.

If it is said, “But Moses—peace be upon him—condemned the worshipers of the Calf,” the reply is: “Yes, and Moses condemns everyone who worships anything created. Even had someone worshiped the very tree from which Allah spoke to him, he would have rebuked him; his censure of the Christians would be even sterner.”

Moreover, Moses—peace be upon him—never once said that Allah unites with any of His creatures or indwells them. On the contrary, he conveyed, in exalting Allah’s majesty, what flatly contradicts such a notion. The Torah is replete with his prohibition of worshiping anything besides Allah, his exaltation of the divine command, his warning of punishment for those who associate partners with Him, and his description of Allah’s attributes—each of which stands in direct opposition to the Christians’ claim.