believe in nothing, but merely ward off condemnation through what you publicly profess.’ We said to them, ‘Is the One who governs these affairs the One who spoke to Moses?’ They said, ‘He did not speak and does not speak, because speech is possible only through an organ, and Allah has no organs.’ When an ignorant person hears their words, he considers them among those who hold Allah in the greatest reverence, unaware that their position amounts to a slander against Allah Most High—or he said, ‘Their position amounts to misguidance and disbelief.’”

Once this is clear, the eighth response may be stated as follows: His being outside the world either entails His being located in space or does not. If it does not entail His being spatially located, it is possible to say that He is outside the world without being spatially located. In that case, knowing that an existent can only be either inside the world or outside it does not conflict with knowing that it is either located in space or not located in space. If there is no conflict, this is no answer to the first argument. Rather, the assertion of the first group—that an existent is either inside another or outside it—remains valid. This entails that the Creator is either inside the world or outside it, which is what they seek to establish, even if He is nevertheless not located in space. This is the position of those who say that He is above the Throne, separate from the world, and not a body.