those who are loyal to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, on the premise that whoever loves them hates ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, and that whoever hates him is a Nāsibī (one hostile to ‘Alī). Ahl al-Sunnah dispute the first premise.
For this reason, these people say that two things do not resemble one another in one respect while differing in another. Most rational thinkers disagree. We have discussed this at length elsewhere, setting out the arguments of those who maintain that all bodies are alike and those who deny this, and demonstrating the falsity of the former position.
Furthermore, relying on this approach to deny likeness is invalid. For if it is established that all bodies are alike, they deny such likeness only through the argument by which they deny that He is a body. If it is established that this entails corporeality, and that corporeality is impossible for Him, this alone suffices to deny it; there is no need to deny what is termed “likening.” However, the denial of corporeality is based on denying this likeness, by saying: “If such-and-such were affirmed of Him, He would be a body.” Then it is said: “All bodies are alike, so they must share what is necessary, possible, and impossible for them; yet this is impossible for Him.”
But in that case, whoever follows this approach relies on denying corporeality in order to deny likeness. Thus, the foundation of his denial is the denial that He is a body. This is another approach, which we shall discuss, if Allah wills.