He denied that sight could perceive Him, may He be exalted, because sight is perishable, meaning it cannot encompass Him, as the perishable cannot encompass the Everlasting, who is transcendent beyond body, substance, accident, place, and direction.

If we try to ascertain the truth of the Mahdi's view, based on his aforementioned statement, we find it consists of the following elements: a. Affirmation of seeing God Almighty, as stated in the Sharia. b. Denial that this vision is of a kind that necessitates resemblance and qualification. c. Denial of visual perception according to its known characteristics, due to what it implies of finitude, encompassment, connection, and separation in relation to the Divine Essence.

While these elements are clear in the Mahdi's statement, it remains lacking a fundamental element, which is an explanation of the reality of the vision, which is certainly established and does not lead to anthropomorphism or resemblance.

If we compare this view of the Mahdi with the view of the Mu'tazila, who denied visual perception of God, both permissibly and actually, and the view of the Ash'aris, who affirmed this vision, both permissibly and actually, despite their differences in interpreting its reality, it becomes clear that his view is closer to the view of Al-Ghazali, and perhaps influenced by him. Al-Ghazali denied that visual perception, with its known conditions in the world of testimony, could be achieved, and said that it is achieved in another way that does not adhere to those conditions.

And Al-Sunusi, in Sharh Al-Murshida, states: (125) See: (126) Al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar, Sharh Al-Usul Al-Khamsa: "The seer by sense does not see a thing unless it is opposite or in the position of the opposite or in the ruling of the opposite. It has been proven that God Almighty cannot be opposite, nor in the position of the opposite, nor in the ruling of the opposite." (Ibid.: 248) and onwards. The Ash'ari school, and some of its followers, went to affirm vision by ordinary sight. (See: Al-Ibana: 127) To affirming a vision without ordinary sight, which is a type of unveiling that God creates for His servants, and does not depend on the conditions of ordinary sight. Thus, they approached the view of the Mu'tazila. See for this: Al-Shahrastani, Nihayat Al-Iqdam: 356 and onwards. Al-Ghazali, Al-Iqtisad fi Al-I'tiqad: 208 and onwards. And see also the views of Al-Iji, Al-Mawaqif: 35 and onwards. A comparison of the vision can be found in: Mahmoud Qasim, Muqaddimah Tahqiq Manahij Al-Adilla by Ibn Rushd: 81 and onwards.