or certain individuals whom people revere as shaykhs—such as the Hallājiyya and others of that sort.

Consequently, whoever claims that Allah—glorified and exalted be He—has indwelt or united with any of the Companions, the Prophet’s kinsfolk, or the shaykhs, is, from this viewpoint, more steeped in unbelief than the Christians who spoke of union and indwelling in the Messiah; for the Messiah, peace be upon him, is superior to all of them.