And this is something they acquired after previously lacking it. If this is the cause of indwelling, then indwelling in them must have begun later, rather than accompanied their creation. Their claim that the Lord has never departed from their bodies or hearts, even for the blink of an eye, is therefore false however it is understood.

As for the statement attributed to Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya concerning the House:

“It is the idol worshipped on earth,”

this is falsely attributed to Rābiʿa. Whoever said such a thing would be a disbeliever who must be called upon to repent; if he repents, so be it, otherwise he is to be put to death. The statement itself is false, for Muslims do not worship the House. Rather, they worship the Lord of the House by circumambulating it and praying towards it.

Likewise, the statement attributed to her:

“By Allah, Allah has never entered it, nor has it ever been devoid of Him,”

is falsely attributed to her. According to the doctrine of those who believe in indwelling, there is no difference in this respect between that House and any other. What distinction, then, warrants circumambulating it, praying towards it, and making pilgrimage to it rather than to other houses?

The statement, “Allah has not entered it,” is correct. As for the statement, “It has never been devoid of Him,” if he means that Allah’s essence indwells in it, or anything similar, this is false and contradicts his statement that Allah has not entered it. But if he means that union is inseparable from it, that no new entry into it has occurred, and that Allah has never indwelt it, then, besides being disbelief and falsehood, this entails that the House has no distinction over other houses, since, according to them, all existing things are likewise.