of Islam. Anyone whose creed is not founded on these proofs, even if he affirms this declaration, shares only the name ‘Muslim’ with the true Muslim.”

He then discussed the affirmative attributes, saying:

“Chapter Three: The Attributes

The attributes which the Noble Book explicitly ascribes to the Maker of the world are attributes of perfection found in human beings. They are seven: knowledge, life, power, will, hearing, sight, and speech.

As for knowledge, the Book draws attention to the proof of it in the words of Allah, exalted is He:

‘Does He who created not know, when He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware?’ [al-Mulk: 14]

The proof is this: a thing that is made—through the arrangement of its parts, by which I mean that some are made for the sake of others, and through the way they all serve its intended benefit—indicates that it did not originate from nature as its maker. Rather, it came into being through a maker who arranged what leads to the end for the sake of that end, and who must therefore have knowledge of it.

For example, when a person looks at a house and realizes that the foundation was only