and stupidity as well—one of the vilest varieties of abuse. Yet if you maintain that He was fully aware, seeing and witnessing everything that Muhammad was doing, then He was either able to restrain him and prevent it, or He was not. If you say that He was unable to stop him (1) you have ascribed to Him impotence and weakness. And if you say that He was able to restrain him but did not, you have charged Him with frivolity, injustice, and tyranny.

All the while, from the moment the Prophet appeared until his Lord took him, Allah answered his prayers and met his needs: he never sought anything without having it granted, never invoked his Lord without receiving a response. No enemy confronted him without being overcome, no banner was raised for him without being granted victory, no standard without being exalted, and whoever opposed or antagonized him was cut off and brought low.

Thus his cause, from the day he emerged until the day he passed away, only grew with every passing day and night in prominence, elevation, and honor, whereas the cause of his opponents diminished only in abasement and decline. His love in the hearts of people increases as time goes by; his Lord, exalted be He, supports him with every manner of aid and raises his renown to the highest heights. Yet in your eyes he is among Allah’s greatest enemies and the most harmful of men to humanity. What disparagement (2) of the Lord of the worlds, what insult to Him, what assault upon His majesty could be greater than that?

The argument struck him forcefully, and it showed upon him. He said, “Far be it from Allah that we should ever say such a thing about Him. Rather, Muhammad is a truthful prophet; everyone who follows him is blessed, and every fair-minded among us concedes this and declares: his followers are happy in both abodes.”