the face of the one veiled from Him by the Fire. Thus, the pronoun refers to the one veiled, not to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The same may be said of the report narrated by Ubayy: “The splendours of the servant’s face would burn everything within reach of his sight.” The splendours would thus burn whatever the servant perceived.

The response is that this is utterly false, for several reasons.

First, this distorts the wording of the hadith, which is even worse than distorting its meaning. The wording of the hadith is: “His veil is fire—or light. If He removed it, the splendours of His Face would burn everything within reach of His sight.” This distortion resembles the reading adopted by some Jahmiyyah: “And Moses spoke directly to Allah,” making Moses the speaker who addressed Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

Second, he said: “His veil is light—or fire. If He removed it.” He did not say: “If He uncovered it.” Removing something means taking it away and lifting it, whereas uncovering it means revealing it. Thus, the other hadith states: “Then He removes the veil, and they look upon Him.” Had he intended that meaning by these words, he would have said: “He would uncover it.”

Third, he said: “His veil is light,” and the pronoun refers to Allah