saying:

“If our gods enter the Fire because they are worshipped, this same attribute is present in the Messiah, so he too must enter the Fire. Yet he will not enter the Fire; therefore, neither will they.”

This is a false analogy, based on their assumption that the determining factor is merely being worshipped. That is not so. Rather, the determining factor is being an object of worship that does not deserve reward, or an object of worship whose admission into the Fire involves no injustice. The Messiah, Ezra, the angels, and others worshipped besides Allah who are among His righteous servants deserve honour from Allah by virtue of His promise, justice, and wisdom. They are therefore not punished for another’s sin, for no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another. The purpose of casting idols into the Fire is to humiliate their worshippers, whereas those close to Allah are granted honour, not humiliation. This distinction exposes the error of basing the ruling on that shared attribute. False analogies are of this kind.

Whoever says that the Sharia runs contrary to an analogy of this kind is correct. This is part of the Sharia’s perfection and its embodiment of the justice and wisdom with which Allah sent His Messenger. Whoever does not reject such false analogies, but instead treats two things as equal merely because they share some attribute, must consequently treat every two existing things as equal, since both fall under the designation of existence. He would thus equate the Lord of all worlds with some of