we reply: ‘What makes his faith superior to that of everyone else is the continuity of his affirmation and Allah’s protection of him from the intrusion of doubts and the stirrings of misgivings. Affirmation is an accident that does not persist. It occurs in uninterrupted succession in the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whereas in others it is present at certain times and absent during periods of interruption. Thus, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has a number of instances of affirmation, while others have only some of them. His faith is therefore greater and better.’”

He said: “If faith were described as increasing and decreasing, with this meaning intended, that would be sound.”

I say: This, then, is what, in their view, makes the Prophet’s faith superior to that of others. Yet it is well known that this is utterly unsound in many respects, as has been explained at length elsewhere.