is used by them in five senses: something composed of existence and quiddity; something composed of essence and attributes; something composed of the particular and the universal; something composed of matter and form; and, among those who affirm indivisible atoms, something composed of such atoms. Discerning scholars know that calling such things “composition” is a matter of terminology. Such composition is either a mental construct with no existence in external reality, or it amounts to multiple attributes subsisting in the entity described—and this is true.

The position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah is to affirm Allah’s attributes. Indeed, the attributes of perfection are inseparable from His essence: His essence cannot exist without the attributes of perfection inseparable from Him. In fact, no essence whatsoever can exist entirely devoid of attributes. All this has been discussed at length elsewhere.

The point here is that, when one says, “This is a human being,” the entity indicated by “this” is what is called a human being. The human being in the abstract is not a part of this individual. Here, a human being exists only as a particular individual; it exists in the abstract only in the mind, not in external reality. When this is said concerning humanity, it means that the two resemble one another in that respect, not that there is something existing in external reality in which they both share. Let the discerning reader reflect on this, for it resolves many specious arguments. Whoever understands this point will recognize the error of those who hold that these terms share only a wording, rather than a meaning; the error of those who regard Allah’s names as mere proper names conveying no meanings; and the error of those who claim that there are in external reality