—exalted is He. Nor has this negation been transmitted from any of the Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, or the imams of the Muslims whose good standing in the community has made them beacons of the Sunnah and leaders of the community.

As for some of Allah’s speech being superior to other parts—indeed, some of His attributes being superior to others—there is abundant evidence for this in the Book, the Sunnah, the rulings of revelation, and the reports from the early generations. If we were to suppose that, in reality, His attributes do not differ in excellence, this absence of differences could be known only through reason, not through revealed evidence. If, however, we suppose that they do differ in excellence, this is supported by both revealed and rational evidence. Thus, supposing that such superiority is indeed true, there would be stronger grounds for judging someone who denies it a disbeliever than for judging someone who affirms it a disbeliever on the supposition that it is not actually true. For the former has denied what the revealed evidence entails without any revealed proof, relying instead on his own reasoning, in which he has erred—as we are speaking within this hypothetical case. It is well known that someone who opposes what the Messengers brought from Allah merely on the basis of his own reasoning is more deserving of being judged a disbeliever than someone who does not oppose what the Messengers brought from Allah, but opposes only what is known through reason—assuming that it is true.

A parallel to this is the statement of one of those who deny the divine attributes. Having reflected on the condition of his companions and that of those who affirm the attributes, he said:

“There is no doubt that these people’s standing before Allah is better than ours. If they are right, they will have attained the highest ranks and the greatest divine pleasure. If they are mistaken, they will say: ‘Our Lord, we believed what Your Book indicated