As for that in which he claimed to differ from the Messenger, and which he claimed the Messenger needed—represented by the golden brick—he alleged that he receives it from the very source from which the angel who conveys revelation to the Messenger receives it. Such, as you can see, is this man’s position, yet some later figures venerate him. Al-Ghazālī explicitly stated that killing someone who claims that the rank of sainthood is higher than the rank of prophethood is dearer to him than killing a hundred unbelievers, because the harm such a person does to religion is greater. We shall not dwell on this matter, since it is not our concern here.

Moreover, in their view, the names of Allah and the names of His attributes are established by religious law and transmitted revelation; they may not be applied on the basis of opinion alone. They therefore have greater grounds for being excused for refraining from using these names than those who refrain from calling His attributes “accidents.”

For some of our attributes are accidents, such as knowledge and power, while others are bodies and self-subsisting substances, such as the face and the hand. Calling these “limbs and organs” is more specific than calling them “bodies,” since the former terms imply acquisition, benefit, and action, as well as the possibility of being separated and of constituting parts.