and other things. Yet he may interpret the words of Allah and His Messenger only according to the language in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, addressed his community: Arabic in general and the dialect of Quraysh in particular.

It is well established through widespread transmission in the language, and familiar to specialists and laypeople alike, that they say: “one dirham,” “one dinar,” “one man,” “one woman,” “one tree,” “one village,” and “one garment.” Among speakers of the language, this usage is as familiar as that of all the other numerals. Thus they say: “one man,” “two men,” “three men,” and “four men.” This is among the clearest, most widespread, and best-known usages in the language. How, then, can anyone claim that no body can be described as one, when most things described as one in Arabic are bodies? Their distortion of the word “one” is like their distortion of the word “like,” as we shall explain, Allah willing.

The third point is that the linguists have stated that the word ahad (“one”) occurs as a noun in affirmative statements only in reference to Allah. It is, however, used in negative, conditional, and interrogative contexts, as in the words of Allah Most High in the very surah he cited: