and the killer kills him without knowing him to have committed any crime, the killer acts unjustly—even if the person giving the order did so only because the victim had killed his father, while the person carrying out the order did not act for that reason. Had he acted on the other’s behalf, he would not have been unjust. If, however, he had some personal motive concerning the victim and killed him unjustly, the person giving the order was nevertheless entitled to have him killed.

The same applies when someone commands another to utter something that, as spoken by the latter, is false—as when Joseph instructed the herald to say:

“O caravan, you are indeed thieves!”

Joseph, peace be upon him, meant: “You indeed stole Joseph from his father,” and in this he was truthful. The person receiving the instruction meant: “You indeed stole the measuring cup.” He thought they had stolen it, so he was not deliberately lying, even though his statement was false.

The actions of the Lord, exalted be He, cannot be measured against those of His servants. Everything He creates serves a wise purpose and a benefit, even if some of what He creates contains evil. Thus, He creates foul entities, such as impure substances and devils, for an overriding wise purpose. A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere.

The point here is that the proofs establishing the Lord’s existence are exceedingly numerous. Those who claim that reason contradicts what the Messenger has reported, and who say they have established the existence of the Necessary Existent, the Eternal, or the Maker, have not established His existence. Rather, their arguments entail denying His existence and divesting Him of His attributes. They therefore deny Him rather than affirm Him. Their arguments are invalid