Thus, if the word ahad (“anyone”) could not apply to a body at all, the implied meaning would be: “Nothing that is not a body is comparable to Him.” In his view, this can only be the indivisible atom, according to those who affirm its existence. The meaning would therefore be: “The indivisible atom is not comparable to Him.” As for all other existing things, their comparability to Him would not have been denied. Likewise: “I associate with my Lord nothing that is not a body,” and “Nothing that is not a body will protect me from Allah.”

It is well known that most created things known to subsist in themselves are bodies, such as the bodies of human beings and others. Souls fall under this designation according to most Muslims, though not according to some. It is also well known that Allah has not merely forbidden associating with Him things that are not bodies; He has forbidden associating bodies with Him as well, especially since most of what has been associated with Him—idols, the sun, the moon, and the stars—consists of bodies.

The Sunan collections contain the report of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq: when Abū Barzah sought his permission to kill someone, he said, “No one was entitled to do that after