and it is also narrated that he said:

“No one may be called by a name by which the Creator is called.” Thus, he called Him (1) nothing but “the Creator” and “the Powerful,” because he upheld absolute compulsion and believed that the servant had no power (2).

They would also sometimes say, “He is not a thing like other things.” (3) There is no doubt that Allah Most High is such that “there is nothing like unto Him.” Their sole intent, however, is to deny that any likeness whatsoever applies to Him, to the point (4) that they affirm no aspect shared in common. (5)

• A proper analysis of this issue requires discussing the meanings of “likening” and “equating.” As for “equating,” the Quran explicitly denies it of Allah in several places, as in His saying:

“There is nothing like unto Him.”

[Surah al-Shūrā: 11]

And His saying:

“Do you know of anyone equal to Him?”

[Surah Maryam: 65]

And His saying:

“And there is none comparable to Him.”

And His saying:

“Do not set up rivals to Allah.”

[Surah al-Baqara: 22]

And His saying:

“So do not assert similarities to Allah.”

[Surah al-Nahl: 74]

The term “likening,” however, contains ambiguity, as we shall explain, if Allah Most High wills.

As for the terms “body,” “substance,” “spatially confined” (6), “direction,” and the like,