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He, exalted be He, says:
“Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge; He neither begets nor is born; and there is none comparable to Him.” ⦗al-Ikhlās: 1–4⦘.
As-Samad means the sovereign who alone merits every attribute of perfection, while al-Ahad is the One who has no peer or likeness. The people of the Sunnah thus occupy the middle course, with respect to the acts of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, between the Muʿtazilites who reject divine decree and the Jabrites who deny Allah’s wisdom and mercy.
وَقَالَ تَعَالَى:
{قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ - اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ - لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ - وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ}
[الإخلاص: ١ - ٤]
.
فَالصَّمَدُ:
السَّيِّدُ الْمُسْتَوْجِبُ لِصِفَاتِ الْكَمَالِ،
وَالْأَحَدُ:
الَّذِي لَيْسَ لَهُ كُفْوٌ، وَلَا مِثَالٌ، وَهُمْ وَسَطٌ فِي بَابِ أَفْعَالِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بَيْنَ الْمُعْتَزِلَةِ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ لِلْقَدَرِ، وَالْجَبْرِيَّةِ النَّافِينَ لِحِكْمَةِ اللَّهِ وَرَحْمَتِهِ