even though most of them have not memorized its wording. When they hear its wording, they know with certainty that it conveys those meanings already known to them. For example, when they hear His words, Most High, “Pilgrimage to the House is a duty people owe to Allah” [Āl ʿImrān 97], they know that “the House” means the House in Mecca. When they hear “the month of Ramadan,” they know that this means the ninth month, between Shaʿbān and Shawwāl. When they hear “He created the heavens and the earth,” they know that this means He brought them into existence, originated them, and created them—not that they are beginningless and inseparable from Him.

When they hear His words, Most High, “Thus does Allah bring the dead to life” [al-Baqarah 73], and His words, “Such will be the resurrection” (9) [Fātir 9], they know that this means bringing the dead to life on the Day of Resurrection. When they hear His words, Most High and Most Holy, “Indeed, I am with you both; I hear and I see” (46) [Tā Hā 46], they know that this means He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. There are many similar examples.

The sixteenth point: This view entails the denial of