the ruling in the counterexample, since this is not a matter of consensus within the Muslim community.

The seventeenth response: They say: We maintain that He is seen only as great and mighty. We do not say that He is seen as neither small nor great. Rather, we say that He is seen as mighty, great, and majestic, just as He has named and described Himself in the Book and the Sunnah. Any disputant who does not affirm this has the argument cited turned against him.

As for his statement, “extended in directions and composed of parts,” we do not concede that we can conceive of nothing visible in the observable realm except something composed of parts. Visible things such as the sun and moon are each a single thing; neither sense perception nor self-evident knowledge establishes that they are composed of discrete parts. There is no disagreement among people that such composition is not known through sense perception or self-evident knowledge. Rather, it is among the most subtle questions disputed by people.

The eighteenth response: It may be asked: What do you mean by “extended” and “composite”? Do you mean that it is composed of parts and can be divided? Not everything we observe is like that. Or do you mean that something within it is not identical to something else within it? We maintain that everything visible, whether in the observable or the unseen realm, must necessarily be so.

The nineteenth response: It may be said: No visible thing can be conceived except as possessing the attributes with which visible, observable things are endowed—the attributes of existence that