they walk in its glow; but when darkness envelops them they stand still” (2:20). Such a person is beset with obsessive doubts, wandering and uncertain—neither a believing affirmer nor an outright denier.

Faith in the Beatific Vision—seeing Allah in the Abode of Peace—is not sound for anyone who regards it as a mere figment of the imagination or subjects it to the workings of his own intellect.

As for the people of true faith, whatever they understand they accept, and whatever lies beyond their understanding they entrust to Allah, Majestic and Exalted. They do not burden themselves with what they do not know, nor do they speak about Allah without knowledge. Indeed, speaking about Allah without knowledge is on a par with idolatry; rather, it is even graver. Allah the Exalted says: “Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies, open and hidden, sin, wrongful oppression, that you associate with Allah for which He has sent down no authority, and that you say about Allah what you do not know’” (7:33). Here, speaking about Allah without knowledge is placed above associating partners with Him, highlighting the grave danger of such speech.

This is the state of the hesitant and the hypocritical: always doubting, perpetually wavering and unstable, for none of them has found a firm footing in Islam, nor have they submitted to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Allah describes the hypocrites as “wavering in between, belonging neither to these nor to those” (4:143); and He says, “When they meet those who believe they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they withdraw to their devils they say, ‘We are truly with you; we were only mocking.’ Allah mocks them and prolongs them in their rebellion, wandering blindly” (2:14-15).

The Abode of Peace is Paradise. Accordingly, belief in the Vision—beholding Allah there—is not valid for one who indulges in fanciful notions, engages in figurative reinterpretation, denies its reality, or fails to submit to Allah and to