by reason. Other forms of resemblance are affirmed by agreement among Muslims—indeed, among the adherents of all religions, and even among all rational people—in their affirmation of a Maker.

Since the term “resemblance” can refer both to what must be denied and to what must be affirmed, the Quran and Sunnah do not use it without qualification, either to deny or to affirm it. Rather, the revealed texts deny that Allah has a like, an equal, a rival, or a peer. Resemblance is, however, affirmed with qualification in the statements of the Prophet’s Companions—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and their successors, as narrated by ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us, saying: Abū al-Hilāl al-Rāsibī narrated to us that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Rawāhah said