And although Allah Most High is the Creator of His servants’ acts, He does not describe Himself as those who perform these acts are described. He does not call Himself one who prays, fasts, eats or drinks. Glory be to Him! Exalted is He far above what the wrongdoers say.

As for the statement:

“There is no other,”

if the speaker means what the adherents of unity mean—namely, that nothing exists other than Allah—then this is outright unbelief.

If there were no other, He would not have said:

“Is it other than Allah I should take as a protector?”

Nor would He have said:

“Is it other than Allah that you order me to worship, O ignorant ones?”

For they were ordering him to worship idols. If there were nothing other than Allah, His words would not have been valid:

“Is it other than Allah that you order me to worship, O ignorant ones?”

Nor would He have said:

“Then is it other than Allah I should seek as judge, when it is He who has sent down to you the Book, explained in detail?”

Nor would Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, have said:

“Have you considered what you have been worshipping—you and your forefathers? Indeed, they are enemies to me, except the Lord of all worlds.”

Nor would he have said:

“Indeed, I am free of what you worship, except the One who created me; He will surely guide me.”

Abraham did not take his Lord as an enemy, nor did he disavow his Lord. If those gods whom they and their forefathers worshipped were not other than Allah, then Abraham would have disavowed Allah and taken Allah as an enemy. Far be it from Abraham to do such a thing!

These heretics initially deny the divine attributes and say:

“The Quran is either Allah or other than Allah.”

When they are told:

“Other than Allah,”

they say:

“Whatever is other than Allah is created.”

Yet ultimately they say:

“Nothing exists other than Allah.”

Or they say:

“The world is neither Allah nor other than Him.”

And they say: