this concerning Yūnus, and others like them who affirm the divinity of certain human beings and divine indwelling and union in them, without applying this universally to everything. Some of these people affirm this concerning certain women, beardless youths, kings, or others.

Their unbelief is worse than that of the Christians who said:

“Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary.”

As for the first group, they affirm this without restriction, saying:

“The Christians disbelieved only because they restricted it to a particular individual.”

These people’s statements are worse than those of the Christians and contain contradictions of the same kind as those found in Christian statements. Thus, they sometimes speak of divine indwelling, sometimes of union, and sometimes of oneness, for their doctrine is inherently contradictory. This is why they mislead those who do not understand it.

All of this is unbelief, inwardly and outwardly, by the unanimous agreement of all Muslims. Whoever doubts these people’s unbelief after learning what they say and understanding the religion of Islam is himself an unbeliever, just like someone who doubts the unbelief of the Jews, Christians, and polytheists.

Yet these people confuse this with something else: what may happen to some who possess spiritual knowledge in the states of self-effacement, gathered awareness, overwhelming ecstasy, and spiritual intoxication. Because of the powerful hold that ecstasy and remembrance have over a person, he may experience a state in which he loses awareness of himself and others. Absorbed in the One he worships, he loses awareness of his worship; in the One he knows, of his knowledge; in the One he remembers, of his remembrance; and in the One whose presence he experiences, of his own existence.