speculative theology among the Jahmites and their ilk, such as what Abul-Qasim al-Lalaka’i (1) relates in Usul al-Sunnah from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (2), the close disciple of Abu Hanifah (3), who said (4):
“All the jurists—without exception—from the East to the West agree upon believing in the Quran and in the reports transmitted by trustworthy narrators from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning the attributes of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, without interpretation, description, or likening. Whoever today interprets any of that has departed from what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was upon and has left the community, for they neither described nor interpreted; rather, they issued legal opinions based on what is in the Book and the sunnah and then remained silent. Whoever adopts the statement of Jahm has left the community, for he has described Him with the attribute of non-existence.”
(1) He is Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Mansur al-Razi al-Lalakayi, a muhaddith who studied fiqh according to the Shafiʿi madhhab. He authored Sharh al-Sunnah and a treatise on the Sunan, among other works. He died in 418 AH. See: al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 14, pp. 70–71; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, vol. 8, p. 34; al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 3, pp. 1083–1085.
(2) He is Abu ʿAbd Allah Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybani, a companion of Abu Hanifa and an imam in fiqh and uṣūl. He wrote numerous works in these fields, such as al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir. He was born in 131 AH and died in 189 AH. See: al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, pp. 172–182; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, vol. 4, pp. 184–185; Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-Mizan, vol. 5, pp. 121–122.
(3) He is Nuʿman ibn Thabit al-Taymi, the imam of the people of opinion (ahl al-ra’y), an Iraqi jurist and one of the Four Imams to whom the Hanafi school is attributed. He was offered a judicial post but declined out of piety and was imprisoned until his death in 150 AH (may Allah have mercy on him); he was born in 80 AH. See: al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 13, pp. 323–454; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Intiqaʾ, pp. 121–171; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, vol. 5, pp. 405–414.
(4) See: Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaʿah by Abu al-Qasim al-Lalakayi, vol. 3, pp. 432–433.
(5) In Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah it appears as jaʾa ("it came").
(6) In Sharh Usul Iʿtiqad Ahl al-Sunnah it reads taghyir ("change").
(7) The phrase wa-sallam ("and peace") is omitted from the abbreviation “s.”.