Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 211
POSTSCRIPT QUESTION (8) بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَّخِذُوا بَيْنَ ذلِكَ سَبِيلًا. أوليكَ هُمُ الْكَفِرُونَ حَقًّا وَ أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَفِرِينَ عَذَابًا مهينا. 211 Meaning that: There are those who do not want to believe in a way that they believe both in God and His Messenger, and seek to sepa- rate God from His Messengers and say, 'We believe in some and not in others' that is to say, we believe in God, but not in His Messengers or that we believe in some Messengers and not in others, and intend to adopt a halfway course—these indeed are the disbelievers, nay they are confirmed disbelievers; and We have prepared a humiliating punish- ment for the disbelievers. These are the categorical verses, the details of which I have just given at great length. The second type of verses is mutashābihāt [allegorical]; their mean- ings are abstruse and their understanding is granted only to those who are firmly grounded in knowledge. Those whose hearts are afflicted with hypocrisy do not care about the muḥkamāt at all and seek to follow the allegorical. The hallmark of the muḥkamāt is that they are plentiful in the Word of God Almighty. The Word of God is replete with them and their meanings are manifestly clear, and denying them inevitably leads to evil consequences. For example, consider this very instance that one who only believes in God Almighty but does not believe in His Messengers has to repudiate divine attributes. This is illustrated by the new sect of Brahmus who proclaim that they believe in God but do not believe in the Prophets. They repudiate the Word of God; it is obvious that if God hears, then He speaks as well. Therefore, if His speaking is not established, His hearing remains unproven. Thus, such people become like atheists by repudiating divine attributes. And just as divine attributes are in existence since eternity, so are they everlast- ing; and they are demonstrated only by Prophets, peace be upon them; and denial of the attributes necessitates the denial of the existence of God. This analysis shows that, in order to believe in Allah the Exalted, 1. Surah an-Nisa', 4:151–152 [Publisher]