and they presented their sole aim as affirming the oneness of Allah Most High, since He alone is the Creator and everything besides Him is created. They claimed that anyone who posited something other than Allah Most High and declared it uncreated had associated partners with Him and adopted the doctrine of the Christians, and so forth. Consequently, many who did not know their true nature thought this was part of the religion and a perfection of monotheism. Thus they went astray and led others astray.

They openly professed that Allah cannot be seen, but they did not make this the issue on which they tested people, because, to the general public, it did not have the same specious appeal to monotheism as the assertion that everything other than Allah is created.

The people of knowledge and faith, however, had recognized their concealed heresy and hypocrisy. They knew that what they intended by saying that the Quran is created was that Allah neither addresses anyone nor speaks—that He has never spoken and does not speak. This negates all the other attributes, including knowledge, hearing, sight, and all the rest affirmed by the divine scriptures. It also impugns messengership itself, for the messengers came only to convey Allah’s speech. Thus, challenging the fact that Allah speaks amounts to challenging the mission of the messengers. They therefore knew that what these people advocated concealed a grave attack