treating the words of the Quran and the Messenger, which Allah Most High revealed as clear and definitive, as ambiguous and obscure, and making the innovators’ ambiguous and obscure expressions the standard by which those words are judged.

Yet those speculative theologians reject those ambiguous terms. If they are aware of both meanings and know that the listener understands their words in a sense they did not intend, then they are using equivocal language with him. This is permissible when dealing with an oppressor, but not with a just person, as when Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend—peace be upon him—said of Sarah, “She is my sister,” and as Abū Bakr would do while behind the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with the Prophet hearing his words: when asked about the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—he would say, “This is a man who shows me the way”; and as