the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). What sensory evidence could be clearer than this? That is why we said that the opponent’s interpretation of it was incorrect.

In his work condemning speculative theology, Abū ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī narrated the report also related through Shaykh al-Islām Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī in his well-known work on the subject. Abū ʿAbd al-Rahmān said that he heard Abū Nasr Ahmad ibn Hāmid al-Sijzī say that he heard his father say: “I asked Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Surayj, ‘What does affirming Allah’s oneness mean?’ He replied: