questions concerning the Quran, the divine attributes, and other matters. They make these issues a basis for loyalty and enmity, while disregarding those who are further removed from the truth and the Sunnah than these brethren. Ignorance and injustice thus lead many of them to love and praise the former because of some good they see in them—or neither to hate nor censure them—while hating and censuring their brethren. This stems from their ignorance of people’s true circumstances and of the degrees of truth in Allah’s sight. It also stems from their injustice: their anger on their own behalf over the harm these brethren sometimes cause them is greater than their anger on their Lord’s behalf over what those others have done.

Religion rests only upon knowledge and justice, which oppose ignorance and injustice. With these Allah sent down His Books and sent His messengers. Allah Most High unites the hearts of His believing servants upon what He loves and is pleased with.

The fifteenth point: His statement:

“Know that the Hanbalis who affirm composition and combination fare better than these Karrāmites, for they have acknowledged that He is composed of parts and portions. These Karrāmites, however, claim that He can be pointed to as an object of sensory perception, and that He is infinite. Yet they also claim that He is one and admits of no division. Inevitably, their position thus contradicts self-evident reason.”