necessitates departing from the way of the Salaf in the first place. This, however, is not the proper venue for refuting every objection raised against the truth; whoever carries a doubt in his heart and wishes to have it resolved will find the matter both easy and straightforward.

[The Confusion of the Allegorical Interpreters]
Those who depart from the Book, the Sunnah, and the early generations of this ummah by resorting to figurative interpretation in this field are trapped in bewilderment. Whoever denies the beatific vision claims that reason deems it impossible and therefore he is compelled to reinterpret the texts. Whoever rules out that Allah possesses knowledge and power, or that His speech is uncreated, likewise says that reason precludes such things and so he must reinterpret. Some even deny the bodily resurrection and the real eating and drinking in Paradise, insisting that reason rejects these beliefs and that they have no choice but to reinterpret. Others assert that Allah is not above the Throne, alleging that reason rules this out, and thus they, too, consider themselves forced into allegory.