Thus he stated that these are the most excellent utterances after the Quran, even though they are themselves part of the Quran. He therefore declared these utterances themselves superior to all others apart from the Quran. Likewise, Sahīh Muslim relates that he was asked:

“Which utterance is most excellent?”

He replied, “What Allah has chosen for His angels: Glory and praise be to Allah.”

Al-Muwatta’ and other works report that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The most excellent thing that I and the prophets before me have said is: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, with no partner. His is the dominion, and His is all praise, and He has power over all things.”

He thus stated that these words are the most excellent thing that he and the prophets before him have said.

Sunan Ibn Mājah reports that he said:

“The most excellent remembrance is: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. And the most excellent supplication is: Praise be to Allah.”

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā also narrated this. In Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sahīh Muslim, he is reported to have said:

“Faith has sixty-odd—or seventy-odd—branches, the highest of which is saying: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.”

There are many such examples in the revealed texts, declaring one deed superior to another and one utterance superior to another. From this, we know that the reward for one is greater than that for the other. But a greater reward without any superiority in the utterance or deed itself is neither established by any transmitted text nor warranted by reason. For if two utterances, or two deeds, are identical in every respect, assigning a greater reward to one than to the other would mean favoring one of two identical things over the other without any grounds for preference.

This is the fundamental premise of the Qadariyyah and the Jahmiyyah, who say that one who has power gives preference to one of two things within his power without any determining factor. They imagined that through this premise they were supporting Islam. Yet neither for Islam