wings, and heard Allah’s words concerning the angels, “having wings, two, three, or four” [Fātir 1], none of them believed that angels and jinn were entirely of the same kind as human beings, because they sensed some distinction between them. Yet it is known that the dissimilarity between Allah and human beings is greater than that between human beings and angels. How, then, can it be said that they raised their hands only because they believed Allah to be of the same kind as the living, powerful beings they observe? Even supposing that this might occur to one or two of them, how can this belief be attributed to all human beings, from the earliest to the latest generations, who raise their hands to Allah, Mighty and Majestic? And how can it be claimed that later generations inherited it from earlier ones and shared the same imagining?

The thirtieth point: Concerning the notion that someone invoking a living, knowing, powerful being imagines Him to be like the living, powerful beings he observes, it may be asked: Do you mean that he imagines Him to be like himself in every respect, such that whatever is possible or impossible for him is likewise possible or impossible for Him, and whatever is necessary for him is necessary for Him? Or do you mean that He resembles him in certain respects? As for the first, you and all other scholars know that this