Section

Al-Rāzī said:

“The second argument is that the Quran states that Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. It is self-evident to every rational person that Allah is not this thing spread across walls and partitions, nor is He the light emanating from the bodies of the sun, the moon, and fire. Each of us must interpret His words, ‘Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth,’ to mean that He illuminates the heavens and the earth, guides their inhabitants, or sets their inhabitants’ affairs aright. All of this is nonliteral interpretation.”

I say: This may be answered in several ways.

First, one may say to him: Allah has stated that He is the Light of the heavens and the earth. For fire, whether considered collectively or in its individual instances—such as that found in lamps, lights, and the like—can only exist