with his tongue is a genuine believer. Such people are not blind followers at all. They would only have been deniers and blind followers had they said and believed: ‘In religion, we follow only our fathers and leaders. If our fathers and leaders abandoned the religion of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, we too would abandon it.’ Had they said and believed this, they would have been blind followers and disbelievers, not believers, because they would merely have followed their fathers and leaders, whom they were forbidden to follow, rather than the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whom they were commanded to follow.”

He said:

“Allah required only the disbelievers who oppose what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought to produce proof—if they are truthful. This is what the verse explicitly states. He never required the Muslims to produce proof, nor did He suspend their adherence until they produced proof.

“The distinction between the two cases is clear: anyone who opposes the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has no proof whatsoever. They were therefore challenged to produce proof in order to confound them and expose their inability to do so, if they are truthful—and they are not