and likewise, regarding his statement that Habīb practised tadlīs, these imams transmitted it from him.

Moreover, this meaning is found among the People of the Book in scriptures handed down from the prophets, such as the Torah. Its first book states: “We shall create a human being in Our image, resembling it.” We have already explained that it is permissible to cite what the People of the Book possess as supporting evidence when it agrees with what is transmitted from our Prophet. This differs from what we know only through them: concerning that, we neither affirm nor deny what they say.

Furthermore, this is something the People of the Book have no motive to fabricate and attribute to the prophets. Rather, they are known to dislike its presence in their scriptures, to conceal it, and to interpret it away, as I myself have witnessed among such of their scholars as Allah has willed. Under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that they would fabricate a statement and include it in the Torah