And the faqīr who said, “Allah has created no one less rational than someone who claims to be a god—such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, and others like them,” was the one who was right: he spoke correctly and expressed himself aptly. Yet these heretics exalt Pharaoh and others like him, claiming that they are better than Moses and others like him.

Indeed, Bahā’ al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Sayyid, who had been a judge of the Jews and embraced Islam, becoming a good Muslim—may Allah have mercy on him—told me about this. He had met al-Shīrāzī, one of their shaykhs, who invited him to adopt this doctrine and made it seem appealing to him. When he told me about it, I explained their misguidance and disbelief to him, and that their doctrine was of the same kind as Pharaoh’s.

He then told me that when Hasan al-Shīrāzī invited him to adopt this doctrine, he said to him, “This doctrine of yours resembles Pharaoh’s doctrine.”

He replied, “Yes, and we hold Pharaoh’s doctrine.”

‘Abd al-Sayyid had not yet embraced Islam at that time. He said, “I will not abandon Moses and turn to Pharaoh.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because Moses drowned Pharaoh,” he replied.

This left al-Shīrāzī unable to answer. Thus, ‘Abd al-Sayyid argued against him on the basis of the victory Allah had granted Moses by His decree, rather than on the basis that Moses was a truthful messenger.

I said to ‘Abd al-Sayyid, “And he admitted to you that he held Pharaoh’s doctrine?”

“Yes,” he replied.

I said, “When an opponent admits the point, no evidence is needed. I had intended to explain to you that their doctrine is Pharaoh’s doctrine. If he has already admitted this, then the purpose has been achieved.”

These statements and others like them are among the gravest falsehoods. We have pointed out some of what enables their meaning to be understood and their falsehood recognized. It is obligatory to condemn them, for condemning this evil, which has spread among many Muslims, takes precedence over condemning the religion of the Jews and Christians, which does not lead Muslims astray—especially since these people’s statements are worse than those of the Jews, Christians, and Pharaoh. And whoever has understood