say, “We reject you; we do not glorify you,” and repeat what Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend—peace be upon him—said to his people:

“We disavow you and whatever you worship besides Allah. We have rejected you, and enmity and hatred have arisen between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone.”
[al-Mumtahanah 4]

If an analogy that equates truth with falsehood—such as the analogy of those who said, “Trade is just like interest,” or that of those who regard the evildoer as equal to those who believe and do righteous deeds—involves a corresponding degree of associating partners with Allah, as Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, the devils inspire their allies to argue with you. If you obey them, you will surely be associating partners with Allah.” (121)
[al-An‘ām 121]

then what of the analogy of those who equate the Lord of all worlds with nonexistent and lifeless things, and equate Him with existing beings that are unlike Him in attributes of perfection, in order to deny Him the attributes of perfection? In their analogy, they set up equals to Him and associate partners with Him in these three respects.

The ninth point: “Composition” and “combination” are ambiguous terms. Some of what they denote is undoubtedly denied by his opponent, while some is not ruled out by what that opponent has stated. If it is possible that those among his opponents who denied it did so in only one of its two senses, rather than the other, then, if that were the case, they would not be blameworthy for this, nor would they be practising dissimulation. Rather, this would be better than