anything.” [al-Shūrā 11] He also denied any peer by saying, “Do you know of any peer to Him?” (65) [Maryam 65]; any rival by saying, “So do not set up rivals to Allah” [al-Baqarah 22]; any equal by saying, “And there is none equal to Him” (4) [al-Ikhlās 4]; and any partner, counterpart, or equal by saying, “Glory be to Him, and exalted is He above what they associate with Him” (18) [Yūnus 18]; “Yet those who disbelieve set up equals to their Lord” (1) [al-An‘ām 1]; and “We were indeed in manifest error (97) when we made you equal to the Lord of all worlds” (98) [al-Shu‘arā’ 97-98].

Such negation must either be restricted to one who is like Him in every respect—that is, solely to one who matches Him in every respect, is equal to Him, is on a par with Him, and matches Him in every respect—or be general, encompassing any likeness, even in some respects, and any match, even in some respects. It cannot be restricted to the first category, for no human being has ever held such a belief, whereas He, glorified is He, condemned and forbade beliefs that actually exist among human beings. Furthermore, when a man said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “What Allah wills and you will,” he replied, “Have you made me a rival to Allah? Rather, what Allah wills