I say: Many Muslims who are genuine monotheists—people who never direct any form of worship to anyone but Allah—still have minds devoid of numerous sound ideas and doctrines that are plainly set out in the Quran and the Sunnah. They pass over many verses and hadiths that contain matters of creed without noticing what those texts actually entail, even though such teachings are an integral part of believing in Allah.

Take, for example, the doctrine that Allah is exalted above everything He created. From experience I know that many of our Salafi brothers share the conviction that Allah rose over the Throne, without figurative reinterpretation (taʾwīl) and without seeking to describe how (takyīf). Yet when a modern-day Muʿtazilite, Jahmite, Maturidi, or Ashʿarite confronts them with a specious argument based on the outward wording of a verse—one whose meaning neither the instigator nor the target of the doubt truly understands—they become confused about their creed and drift far from it.

Why does this happen? Because they have not absorbed the correct doctrine from every angle through which the Book of our Lord and the sayings of our Prophet Muhammad clarify it. Thus, when a contemporary Muʿtazilite says, “Allah states: ‘Do you feel secure against Him who is in the heaven?’ (al-Mulk, 67:16-17), and you claim that Allah is in the heaven—this therefore implies…,” he plants a doubt in the listener’s mind.