from its companion.

The leader of the deniers and idolaters is Pharaoh; he is the imam of every denier and polytheist until the Day of Resurrection, just as the imams of the monotheists are Abraham and Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them both—until the Day of Resurrection. Concerning the imam of the muʿaṭṭilūn and his followers Allah, exalted is He, says, “We made them leaders who call to the Fire” (al-Qasas 41). And to the imam of the upright He said, “I am going to make you an imam for mankind” (al-Baqarah 124); while regarding his followers He said, “We appointed from among them leaders who guided by Our command when they were patient and were certain of Our signs” (as-Sajdah 24).

Accordingly, no muʿaṭṭil who tamper with knowledge-based tawḥīd can put forward an allegorical interpretation (1) without enabling the polytheist who nullifies practical tawḥīd to bring forth an interpretation of the same sort. The keenest and most distinguished of the philosophers have acknowledged this. Abū al-Walīd Ibn Rushd said in his book al-Kashf ʿan Manāhij al-Adillah (2):

“On the question of direction: This attribute has always been affirmed for Allah—glorified be He—by the people of the Sharia until the Muʿtazila denied it; later Ashʿarīs such as Abū al-Maʿālī and those who adopted his view followed them in that denial. Yet all the outward indications of the revealed law require affirming direction (3), as in His words: ‘The All-Merciful rose over the Throne’ (Ta-Ha 5); ‘His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth’ (al-Baqarah 255); ‘And that Day eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them’ (al-Ḥāqqah 17); ‘He directs the affair from the heaven to the earth, then it ascends to Him in a day whose measure is a thousand years of what you reckon’ (as-Sajdah 5); ‘The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him’ (al-Maʿārij 4); and His saying, ‘Do you feel secure…’”