A parallel instance of such “compensation” is the pride of the Jahmiyyah (1). They deemed it beneath Allah, exalted be He, to be above His heavens, upon His Throne, separate from His creation—lest, according to their imagination, He be “confined” to a particular direction. They then went on to claim that He is, in His very essence, present in every place. Thus they confined Him to wells, prisons, impurities, and filth, giving Him these abject locations in exchange for His Majestic Throne. Let any person of reason reflect on how Satan has toyed with the minds of these people, laughing at them and making sport of them!

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As for the Messiah’s words, “When I depart, I will send him to you,” the meaning is: I will cause him to be sent by supplicating my Lord and requesting Him to dispatch him—just as a petitioner might ask a ruler to send an envoy, appoint a deputy, or grant a favor, and then say, “I have sent him, appointed him, and granted it,” meaning only that he served as the cause. Whenever Allah, exalted be He, decrees a matter to exist, He ordains the means by which it will come about, and among those means is the supplication of some of His servants. In that lies a double blessing: the blessing of having their prayer answered, added to the blessing of bringing into being what He has decreed.

Abraham—the intimate friend—prayed for Muhammad, saying, “Our Lord, raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who will recite to them Your verses, teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify them. Indeed, You alone are the Mighty, the Wise.” ⦗al-Baqarah 2:129⦘. Yet Allah, exalted be He, had already decreed his mission and proclaimed his name beforehand. He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, when were you a prophet?” He replied, “When Adam was between spirit and body.” (2) And he also said, “I was, in the sight of Allah