a criterion by which to distinguish truth from falsehood and guidance from misguidance. Rather, they make the distinction depend on people’s spiritual experiences and reasoning, which vary from one person to another.

Clearly, this amounts to accusing the Messenger of obscuring matters and failing to explain them—indeed, of concealing the truth and misleading people, and even of speaking words whose truth cannot be distinguished from their falsehood. Thus, their position amounts to turning away from the Book and the Messenger. They derive no knowledge of Allah’s attributes from His Book or the Sunnah of His Messenger. In their view, the Messenger has no authority to speak about Allah’s attributes, whether affirming or denying them; his authority concerns only practical matters—or some of them—even though they agree that his aim was to establish justice among people and set their worldly affairs right.

Yet they also say:

“He spoke to them about Allah and the Last Day in words that became a cause of evil, turmoil, enmity, and hatred among them.”

In their view, these words also corrupt reason and religion. Their position therefore amounts to saying that he corrupted both their religion and their worldly affairs.

This contradicts their assertion:

“He is the wisest and most perfect of all creation—or among the wisest and most perfect—and he sought justice and the welfare of their worldly affairs.”

Thus, besides making assertions that entail disbelief and heresy, they utter conflicting claims—“whoever is turned away is turned away from it”—utterly contradictory and utterly corrupt.

This becomes clear: