exist—much as Allah diverted abuse from His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said:

“Are you not amazed at Quraysh? They revile Mudhammam (‘the blameworthy’), while I am Muhammad (‘the praised one’).”

This is like the Rāfida’s allegation that the people of the Sunnah—those devoted to hadith, jurisprudence, worship, and knowledge—are Nāsiba (enemies of the Prophet’s household); the Qadariyya’s allegation that they are Mujbira (deniers of human free choice); and the Jahmiyya’s allegation that they are Mushabbiha (those who liken Allah to His creation). Likewise, those who oppose hadith and reject its adherents describe them as Nābita (upstarts), Hashwiyya, scum, and rabble, among other falsely applied names. Whoever examines the books of the speculative theologians who oppose this position will find that, in most or all cases, they argue only against this position, although we know of no one who actually holds it.

If, however, the man who swore the oath meant that the Quran which Allah sent down to Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) consists of these 114 surahs, in both their letters and their meanings; that the Quran is neither the letters without the meanings nor the meanings without the letters, but both together; and that our reciting its letters and grasping its meanings does not negate the existence of those meanings and letters before we came into existence—then this is the position of the Muslims, and he has not broken his oath.

Likewise, if he meant that this Quran, which the Muslims recite and write in their copies, is truly—not metaphorically—the speech of Allah, Glorified be He, and that