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Al-Rāzī said: “The third argument is that the challenge was issued through the Quran, and a challenge cannot be issued through something that is not understood.” He said: “This sums up the arguments of the speculative theologians.”

With Allah’s aid, we reply: Just as these arguments demonstrate the falsity of the position that the Quran contains passages which no one can understand—indeed, whose meaning is impossible to know—they also demonstrate the falsity of the position of these speculative theologians who deny all or some of the divine attributes. They thus constitute an argument against the positions of both groups.

These deniers maintain that the true affirmation of divine oneness that befits Allah Most High, by which He must be known, and whose opposite cannot be ascribed to Him, is neither contained in the Quran nor indicated by it. They also maintain that the customary ways in which speech conveys meaning do not yield certainty. This affirmation consists in holding that the Lord is neither inside the world nor outside it; that He cannot be pointed to; that He does not draw near to anything, nor does anything draw near to Him; that nothing ascends to Him, nothing descends from Him, and nothing veils