—criticised certain members of the general public who attended his gatherings. Whenever they heard any reports that speak of the divine attributes, they became fearful and trembled in denial. In doing so they failed to give the obligatory assent to what has been soundly transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—texts whose meaning they already knew from the Quran and whose truth no believer should doubt. Some of them even twisted those texts away from the sense Allah intended, and thus destroyed themselves.

Relevance of the narration to the chapter: After quoting the report from ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—which shows that people should not be told matters they cannot grasp, the author cites this report to make clear that the texts concerning the attributes are not among the things forbidden to relate. On the contrary, they should be mentioned openly, for the fact that some people find them unsettling does not warrant withholding them. From the earliest scholars to those of our own time, verses and hadiths on the attributes have always been recited in gatherings attended by both the common folk and the learned.

Points derived from the narration:

1. There is no objection to teaching the verses and hadiths dealing with the divine attributes in the presence of both the general public and the elite.
2. Anyone who rejects or disavows an authentic text concerning the attributes after its soundness has been established is among the doomed.
3. It is incumbent to censure those who repudiate any of the texts on the divine attributes.