and these people maintain that Allah is not above the Throne, these propositions were not widely accepted among them.

It is well known—and agreed upon by these people and others—that the prophets did not challenge these propositions or convey anything that contradicts them. Rather, everything the prophets conveyed accords with these propositions.

The Quran, the Torah, and the Gospel contain passages agreeing with these propositions in numbers that only Allah can reckon. The same is true of the prophetic reports and the accounts transmitted from the early generations. Indeed, no statement contradicting the affirmation of these propositions is known from any of the Companions, their successors, or the generation that followed them.

Ibn Sīnā and others like him acknowledge that the divine scriptures convey only what accords with the position of those who affirm Allah’s attributes and His being above creation, and nothing that contradicts it. They call this likening Allah to His creation, and say:

“The divine scriptures teach only the likening of Allah to His creation.”

They make this part of their argument, as we have already quoted from him, explaining how he used it to argue against those who agreed with him in denying Allah’s attributes and His being above creation. He said:

“If this conception of monotheism is true, yet the prophets did not teach it but rather its opposite, then the same applies to the matter of the Hereafter.”

How, then, can someone like this claim that religious teachings and true religions prevented these propositions from being widely accepted?

Thus, it is clear that what prevented their widespread acceptance was a view not found among the prophets or their followers, and that they failed to gain widespread acceptance only among those who introduced a view that had not been stipulated,