oppose them, using the diversion and distortion with which they have been tried through such things as whims, deviation of the heart, and the departure from the truth embodied in the innovations they have introduced.

“‘And none knows its interpretation except Allah’—that is, none knows what they have diverted and interpreted except Allah, who knows His servants’ innermost secrets and their deeds. ‘And those firmly grounded in knowledge say, “We believe in it.”’ He said: Their understanding of it was not based on doubt. Rather, their deeds were sincere, and their knowledge was profound: they recognized Allah’s justice and knew that nothing He had revealed could be contradictory. They therefore referred the ambiguous verses back to the clear ones and said, ‘All of it is from our Lord.’ How, then, could there be any contradiction in it, when its parts were revealed to confirm one another?”

In the other report, he said: “Then they referred the interpretation of the ambiguous verses