The third point concerns his statement about their position: “One must hold with certainty that Allah Most High intends by these passages something other than their apparent meaning, and one must entrust their meaning to Allah Most High.”

The response is that this is not known to have been said by any of the early generations—may Allah Most High have mercy on them. None of them is known to have said that one must hold with certainty that Allah intends by these passages something other than their apparent meaning, and then entrust their meaning to the Lord Most High. Rather, what is known from the early generations is their rejection of likening or equating these attributes with the attributes of created beings, and their denunciation of those who say, “A hand like my hand, a foot like my foot, a descent like my descent, a rising like my rising,” and similar things. This is explicitly established from several of the early generations and the leading scholars of the Sunnah.

None of the early generations or the recognized leading scholars of Islam is known to have said that Allah Most High is a body, a substance, or something that occupies space. Nor did any of them say that He is not a body, a substance, or something that occupies space. Nor did any say that He is in a direction, or that He is not in a direction. These expressions, whether affirmed or negated, do not occur in the Quran or hadith, nor is their negation found