over whether these indications admit of reinterpretation. It is thus clear that all groups agree that the affirmative scriptural evidence does not support the position of those who deny that Allah is a body; rather, it supports the position of those who affirm it, whether those indications are accepted as they stand or interpreted otherwise. Those who deny it claim only that rational evidence supports their denial. The arguments they have advanced have already been discussed. To anyone with understanding, their opponents’ argument is more evident: their position is closer to reason, and their argument is more firmly grounded in rational examination and analogy.

That being so, if it is said that what these texts signify necessarily entails being a body, then a necessary consequence of truth is itself true. What would be required in that case is to affirm both what entails that consequence and the consequence itself—not to deny the consequence and then deny