وَهُوَ بَيْنَ الْغُلُوِّ وَالتَّقْصِيرِ وَبَيْنَ التَّشْبِيهِ وَالتَّعْطِيلِ وَبَيْنَ الْجَبْرِ وَالْقَدَرِ وَبَيْنَ الْأَمْنِ وَالْإِيَاسِ.
The religion of Islam follows a middle path between excess and deficiency, likening God to creation and denying His attributes, compulsion and the doctrine of autonomous human creation, and feeling secure from punishment and despairing of mercy.
Claim under examination: A person interprets moderation as the arithmetic midpoint between any two opposing claims being automatically true.
What the text establishes: Moderation between exaggeration and neglect, assimilation and negation, compulsion and absolute autonomy, false security and despair is determined by established doctrine, not numerical compromise. Truth is identified by the relevant evidence.
What does not follow: Inventing a middle opinion between any pair of statements is insufficient. Sound balance requires understanding why the opposed extremes are defective.
Application: For each of the four pairs, identify a formulation that avoids both errors.