As for the Jews, they do not allow that God—exalted is He—could ever abrogate anything He has legislated.

The Christians, by contrast, permit their leading figures to set aside God’s law according to their own opinions.

The Muslims, however, hold that creation and command alike belong to God alone; no legislation is valid except what He promulgates through the tongues of His messengers. He may abrogate whatever He wills, just as the Messiah abrogated certain rulings that had been prescribed for the prophets before him.

Accordingly, the Christians have had their doctrines and laws laid down for them by their elders after the Messiah. A case in point is the three hundred and eighteen bishops who, in the time of Emperor Constantine, drafted the creed on which they agreed and pronounced a curse upon any who opposed it—such as the Arians and others. That creed contains matters for which God revealed no scripture; indeed, it contradicts both the books God sent down and sound reason. In it they declared:

“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen, and in one Lord …”