Is there any doubt about Allah? The particle of denial has been introduced upon the circumstance, because the speech is not about doubt, but rather about the thing that is doubted, and it does not allow for doubt due to the clarity of the evidence and its testimony regarding it. He calls you to forgive you of your sins, meaning He calls you to faith so that He may forgive you, or He calls you for the sake of forgiveness, as in His saying: I called upon Him to help me, and I called upon Him to eat with me. And He said: I called upon Him for what befell me, so He responded, so He responded to my call. This was said by an Arab from Banu Asad. 'He responded' means 'He answered', and Ibn Habib wrote it with an alif even though it is a ya to differentiate it from the dual that follows. 'He responded' is one of the names that must be added to the pronoun, and its addition to the apparent noun is rare as in this case. The meaning of 'He responded' is to indicate the continuity of the response, response after response, not just two. It is in the accusative case as a verbal noun with an omitted verb. This is the view of Sibawayh. Yunus claimed it is a singular form, its alif being changed to a ya with the pronoun, as in 'Kaldi' and 'Ala'. Sibawayh refuted him, saying that if it were so, its alif would not have changed to a ya with the apparent noun as in 'Kaldi' and 'Ala'. However, when they added it to the apparent noun, they changed it to a ya as in the verse. He says: I called upon Maswar for what afflicted me, so He answered me, so He responded to my call, meaning Allah answered his supplication after responding, and he mentioned the hands because they are raised in supplication, as if they are the responders, or because his support was achieved through them, indicating that he was saved by them. It is said that he called upon Him to pay the blood money for him, so He answered him, and he mentioned his hands because he offered them. It is said that this was a custom of the Arabs, and it was prohibited. It was narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: When one of you calls his brother and says: 'I am here', let him not say: 'I am here with my hands', but let him say: 'May Allah answer you with what you love.'

If you say: What is the meaning of the partitive in His saying: 'of your sins'? I say: What I know came like this only in addressing the disbelievers, as in His saying: 'And fear Him and obey Me, He will forgive you of your sins', and 'O our people, respond to the caller of Allah and believe in Him, He will forgive you of your sins.' And He spoke in addressing the believers: 'Shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful punishment?' Until He said: 'He will forgive you your sins.' And other than that which you can observe through induction. This was to differentiate between the two addresses, and so that the two groups would not be equated in the promise. It is said that He means He will forgive them what is between them and Allah, unlike what is between them and the servants regarding injustices and the like. And He will delay you to a specified term, to a time that Allah has named and defined its extent, which He will reach you if you believe, otherwise He will hasten your destruction before that time. You are nothing but humans like us, there is no superiority between us and you, nor do you have any superiority over us, so why do you single yourselves out for prophethood?

He returned to his speech. He said: 'And their saying: 'You are nothing but humans like us' means: Why do you single yourselves out for prophethood over us? If Allah had sent messengers to humans, He would have made them from a better kind than them, and they are the angels?' Ahmad said: And from his insistence on defending his belief in the superiority of angels over the messengers from humans, he even claims that the disbelievers believed as the Qadarites do in the superiority of the angel over the messenger, because he claims that this is an ingrained belief in nature, known by necessity, and Allah is the Grantor of success.

Without us, if Allah had sent messengers to humans, He would have made them from a better kind than them, and they are the angels. This saying 'He would have made them from a better kind than them, and they are the angels' is according to the view of the Mu'tazila, but according to the Ahl al-Sunnah, some humans are better.

With a clear authority, and their messengers came to them with clear signs and proofs, and they intended by the clear authority a sign that they proposed out of stubbornness and obstinacy.