as a self-evident truth of reason.

An example involving a prohibition is the saying of Allah Most High:

“Do not choose the inferior part of it to give, when you yourselves would accept it only by overlooking its defects.” [al-Baqarah 267]

He is saying: “If, when settling what you owe one another, you would accept inferior goods only by overlooking their defects, then I have an even greater right not to be given what is inferior in fulfillment of My due.”

Another example is what one of the early Muslims said to his sons concerning the sacrificial animal: “None of you should offer anything he would be ashamed to present to someone he holds in esteem, for Allah is the Most Generous of all.” Another is the report concerning Umar and the she-camel he dedicated as a sacrificial offering, for which he was offered a large sum of money.

The point we have made—that rational, analogical methods concerning Lordship do not take the form of comparison and equation in which the individual cases stand on an equal footing