with the Messiah alone, even though it is impossible to distinguish one from another. This disbelief is far less grave than that of the philosophers. I have discussed this before, though it has been a long time since then. The error and self-contradiction in this are even greater, so much so that ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak said:

“We can recount what the Jews and Christians say, but we cannot recount what the Jahmiyyah say.”

This becomes clear from the following: the interpretations these people give to the name “the One”—interpretations without any basis in the Quran, the Sunnah, or the words of the early generations and leading scholars—are undoubtedly false on scriptural, rational, and linguistic grounds. As for language, its authorities unanimously agree that “one” does not mean something no side of which can be distinguished from another, and no part of which can be seen without another, for the Quran and other Arabic discourse are in agreement