[in two places] (1)

“On the Day He calls them and says, ‘How did you respond to the messengers?’”

[Surah al-Qasas: 65]

“Their Lord called out to them both.”

[Surah al-A‘rāf: 22]

Whoever claims that He has been calling continually from eternity past to eternity future has contradicted both the Quran and reason. Whoever claims that He Himself (2) did not call, but rather created a call in a tree or elsewhere, must necessarily hold that it was the tree itself that said, “Indeed, I am Allah.”

This is not like people saying, “The ruler made a proclamation,” when he merely instructed a herald to proclaim it. A herald speaking on behalf of the ruler says, “The ruler has commanded such-and-such,” or, “The sovereign has decreed such-and-such.” He does not say, “I have commanded you.” Were he to say that, people would humiliate him.

Yet the One who called Moses said:

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity but Me, so worship Me.”

[Surah Tā Hā: 14]

“Indeed, I am Allah, Lord of the worlds.”

[Surah al-Qasas: 30]

An angel may not say this unless he is conveying it from Allah, just as we recite the Quran. When Allah commands an angel to issue a call, the angel speaks as is [established] in the Sahih (3), in the report from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said:

“When Allah loves a servant, He calls Gabriel and says, ‘I love so-and-so, so love him.’ Gabriel then calls out in heaven, ‘Allah loves so-and-so, so love him.’” (4)

Thus, when Gabriel