worshiped the image and said: 'If He had wanted us to serve Him through light, He would have appeared to us as a person of light and manifested to us the like of what appeared; He did not charge us to worship a fire as it is not of our form, nor a light as it is not of our nature.' So, they worshiped the image. A group of them worshiped an image because it is not in reality an image, and He is the Fashioner of images and the Causer of causes; they raised Him above that, exalted Him, and honored Him, and they fashioned the likeness of the disciple's image. Thus, if a calamity befell one of them, or a trial struck him, or a hardship overtook him, he would bring out the image of the disciple, swear by his name, and seek intercession through him; his prayer would be answered and his affliction removed. This is our excuse for worshiping idols. Now you inform me, O Muslim, about this House that you have taken as your Kaaba and made into your qibla, to which you prostrate from every place and to which you perform pilgrimage every year, spending wealth and leaving family and homelands, until when you come to the House, you circumambulate it and supplicate to it, and when you reach the Black Stone, you kiss it—yet you know who originated this House and built it. Is it your Lord, your Creator, your Resurrector, and your Inheritor?" The Muslim said: "No." He asked: "For what reason do you worship and prostrate toward it?" He replied: "Because it is the House of Allah." He asked: "What is the meaning of the House of Allah? Does Allah have a house that contains Him?" He said: "No." He asked: "Then what is the reason for your prostration to the House? And for what reason do you honor and exalt it?" He replied: "Because the Messenger of Allah, Exalted Glory, commanded that." The idol worshiper asked: "Who is the Messenger of Allah?" The Muslim replied: "Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, who broke your idols, destroyed your statues, extinguished your fires, and erased your traces." He asked: "By what did you deduce his prophethood, believe him, strive with him, and support him?" He replied: "By the signs and miracles he manifested, upon which the people agreed, for he has many signs and proofs."