is other than Him. Thus, everything other than Him is subject to His lordship, and whatever is subject to His lordship is necessarily created. Everything created comes into existence after not having existed. His lordship over everything other than Himself therefore necessarily entails that He precedes it and that whatever is subject to His lordship has a beginning. It is inconceivable that the world should be eternal while forever subject to His lordship, for whatever is eternal would, by virtue of its eternity, have no need of an agent to bring it into existence. Yet everything subject to His lordship is inherently dependent. Thus, nothing subject to His lordship is self-sufficient or eternal.

Third: affirming His oneness necessarily excludes anything in the world from sharing the attributes exclusive to His lordship. Divine decree is among these exclusive attributes. Affirming His oneness therefore necessarily precludes attributing it to anyone else, just as it precludes attributing lordship or divinity to anyone else.

Section

Explaining how it contains a refutation of the Rāfidah

This is found in His words, “Guide us to the straight path,” through to the end of the surah.

The way this refutes their position is that He, glorified be He, divided people into three groups:

Those whom He has blessed: the people of the straight path, who have recognized the truth and followed it.

Those who have incurred His anger: those who have recognized the truth and rejected it.

Those who have gone astray: those who, being ignorant of the truth, have missed it.

Thus, the more a person knows the truth and follows it, the more entitled he is to be counted among the people of the straight path.

There is no doubt that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him, and may Allah be pleased with them—are more deserving of this description than the Rāfidah. It is impossible that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him, and may Allah be pleased with them—should have been ignorant of the truth while the Rāfidah knew it, or that they should have rejected it while the Rāfidah held fast to it.

Moreover, we have seen that the achievements of the two groups show which of them adheres to the truth. We have seen how the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—conquered lands of unbelief and transformed them into lands of Islam, and how they won hearts through the Quran, knowledge, and guidance. Their achievements demonstrate that they are indeed the people of the straight path. And we have seen