three hundred years. Their last king was Ptolemy, under whom the Christians came among them.

Anyone who examines the histories of peoples who had no scripture, such as the Romans, Greeks, and others, will recognize that the Christians were more accomplished in divine matters, superior to them, more knowledgeable, and more discerning. Those peoples excelled only in fields other than knowledge of divine matters, such as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, and the like.

Their intense preoccupation with astronomy was only for the sake of polytheism, magic, and invoking the stars and idols besides Allah. For they say that they draw upon the powers of the celestial spheres and combine the active celestial power with the passive terrestrial powers. Hence, their lands contain talismans and similar things, as is well known in Egypt, Syria, al-Jazīra, and elsewhere.

Thus, the claim that people needed, when calling others to Islam, to change the foundations of the revealed law—which the Companions had no need to change—is false.

The second point:

It may be said: The Quran makes clear what is required in response to this question and everything else that is asked. However, anyone answering on the basis of the Quran and Sunnah needs to understand their meanings and the meaning of the questioner’s words. People express their meanings using expressions other than those found in the Book and Sunnah, just as a nation may speak a language other than Arabic.

Thus, anyone answering on the basis of what the Messenger brought needs to understand both expressions: the expression the Messenger used in addressing people, and the expression in which the question was put.