Fire, in which Allah has placed heat, can cause burning only when that heat is joined to a substance that is capable of being burnt. Should it fall upon a salamander, a ruby, or anything of that nature, it will not scorch them, and a body can be coated with a material that prevents it from being burned at all. In the same way, the sun’s rays require a surface that can receive and reflect them; if a barrier of cloud or a roof intervenes, no ray will reach what lies beneath. This has been discussed in detail elsewhere.

What concerns us here is that belief in the Divine Decree (qadar) is indispensable, for faith in the decree is part and parcel of pure monotheism. As Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said: it is