for right guidance, injustice for justice, and corruption for rectitude; and anyone who calls people to follow him and obey him as an absolute, binding duty—demanding that they believe whatever he relates, carry out whatever he commands and enjoins, both inwardly and outwardly, without giving anyone the option of following, believing, or obeying him, and without permitting them to differ with him in any way, either secretly or openly—such a person cannot fall outside one of three categories.

His aim is either sin and aggression, or piety and justice. If his aim is the former, he is an oppressive libertine, and such a person can only be lying, whether deliberately or by mistake. If his aim is piety and justice, then one of two situations must apply: either he knows with certainty every unseen matter he reports—being utterly sure of the truth of his own words with a certainty that admits no opposite, and knowing that whatever he commands is sheer justice so that no one he addresses may lawfully disobey him in any respect—or he lacks that certainty.

If he does possess it, then he is the infallible Prophet who speaks only the truth and commands only justice:

“Your Lord’s Word has been fulfilled in truth and justice; none can alter His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” ⦗Al-Anʿām 6:115⦘

This stands in contrast to the category of those who pursue justice and truth by means of their own reasoning and judgment, for—