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—such as when they confronted Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal during his famous ordeal—so they said to him:
“What do you say about the Qur’an, the speech of Allah? Is it Allah, or is it something other than Allah?”
He met their challenge by shifting the discussion to the divine attribute of knowledge and replied:
“What do you say about the knowledge of Allah? Is it Allah, or something other than Allah?”
He likewise went on to answer
أَحْمَدَ بْنَ حَنْبَلٍ فِي مِحْنَتِهِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ فَقَالُوا لَهُ:
" مَا تَقُولُ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَكَلَامِ اللَّهِ، أَهْوَ اللَّهُ أَمْ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ؟ "
عَارَضَهُمْ بِالْعِلْمِ؛
وَقَالَ لَهُمْ:
" مَا تَقُولُونَ فِي عِلْمِ اللَّهِ، أَهْوَ اللَّهُ أَمْ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ؟ "
. وَأَجَابَ - أَيْضًا -