the Most Generous, who is never miserly; the Self-Sufficient, who has no need of anything(1) besides Him; and the All-Powerful, whom no weariness touches. Power, will, and freedom from need of all besides Him are attributes of perfection that entail all the others.

Christians, by contrast, ascribe to a created being the attributes that are unique to the Creator, thereby likening the created being to the Creator. They say, “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,” and, “Allah is the third of three.” They also say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah, as well as the Messiah, son of Mary.

“They were commanded only to worship one God. There is no deity except Him. Glory be to Him, far above whatever they associate with Him.”

The Muslims affirm Allah’s oneness and describe Him with the attributes of perfection. They declare Him free of every attribute of imperfection and far above any created being resembling Him in any attribute. He is described by attributes of perfection, not attributes of imperfection. There is nothing like Him—neither in His essence, His attributes, nor His actions.

The same applies to prophethood: the Jews kill some of the prophets, disdain to follow them, reject them(2), and accuse them of grave sins. Christians, meanwhile, make those who are neither prophets nor messengers into prophets and messengers. Thus, they say of the disciples, “They are messengers.” Indeed, they obey their rabbis and monks as prophets are obeyed. Christians affirm falsehood, while Jews deny the truth.

For this reason, the innovators among the practitioners of speculative theology bore a resemblance(3) to the Jews, while among the innovators of the people of