my descendants.” [Ibrāhīm 40]

He commanded His servants to say, “Guide us to the straight path,” and other supplications of this kind.

If, however, both positions are false, the Quran rejects them both. Examples include the claim that the servant has no power, will, or action, and the claim that it is the servant who creates his own action, independently of Allah. The Quran rejects both claims. Indeed, if the verses themselves indicate what someone claims, they do so just as comparable statements and evidence do; otherwise, they do not indicate it. What speech is intended to convey is sometimes known immediately and sometimes through inference. Evidence for this is drawn from what the leading scholars transmitted and from the explanations of the Quran given by the early generations, drawing on the indications of the Sunnah, the other verses, and other evidence.

For example, the Christians claimed that His expressions “Indeed, We” and “We” support their assertion that there are three gods. They also claimed that His words,

“They said, ‘We worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac’” [al-Baqarah 133]

mean that there are three gods. Such wording involves ambiguity: “We” can be used for one who has partners, or for one who is exalted and obeyed, with slaves obedient to him. Likewise, conjunction can indicate a distinction between attributes or between distinct entities. This, then, admits of ambiguity.

By contrast, the unambiguous passages in the Quran include His words, Most High:

“Your God is One God.” [al-Baqarah 163]

And His words, Most High:

“Allah has said, ‘Do not take two gods. He is only One God.’” [al-Nahl 51]

And His words, Most High:

“Do you truly testify that