affirmation. If these people say to him, “We adhere to the apparent meaning of the Quran,” he cannot refute them. As for his statement, “Every rational person knows that what is meant is nearness through divine knowledge and power,” his fellow Jahmiyyah dispute this with him. Although we know their position to be false, the point here is that his claim of agreement that some apparent meanings of the Quran are untrue is unfounded. There is no agreement on anything he has mentioned—not even in a single instance.

If, on the other hand, the apparent meaning of the wording does not indicate that His essence is within created beings, then the verse has not been interpreted contrary to its apparent meaning. On either supposition, his claim of agreement on the impossibility of the Quran’s apparent meaning does not hold.

The second point: Those who adhere to the Sunnah and faith and affirm Allah’s attributes do not dispute with him that Allah is not within created beings. Rather, they dispute his claim that the apparent meaning of this verse indicates that He is. Thus, one may say: Either the apparent meaning of the verse indicates that His essence is within created beings themselves, or it does not. If the latter, his statement is invalid. If the former, then there is no doubt that Allah has explained these verses and dispelled