This is likewise attested in the lives of many foreign monarchs and others, and in a large number of the ahl al-bidʿah (people of religious innovation) and libertines. Thus the state of those who fight with their hands resembles the state of those who contend with their tongues.
The scholars have also recorded how such matters first arose. Imām Aḥmad, in what he cites in his Refutation of the Zanādiqa and the Jahmiyya (1), said:
Aḥmad (2) said: “In the same way, Jahm and his followers (3) called the people to the ambiguous passages of the Quran and the hadith; they therefore went astray themselves and, through their words, led many others astray. Among the information that has reached us about Jahm—the enemy of Allah—is that he was from Khurāsān, from the town of Tirmidh (4). He was a man given to wrangling and disputation, and most of his talk revolved around discussion about Allah…"
= And the meaning of “ḍi’ḍa’i” (ḍi’ḍa’i): namely, its origin and lineage.
See Lisan al-‘Arab by Ibn Manẓūr, vol. 1, p. 110 (under ḍa’aḍa’a).
This refers to the man who said to the Prophet (peace be upon him), “Fear Allah, O Muḥammad,” as related in this hadith. In some versions he said, “Be just, O Muḥammad,” when the Messenger (peace be upon him) allotted shares.
Other reports state that a man from Banū Tamīm called Dhu al-Khawaiṣirah said to the Prophet (peace be upon him) at the time of distribution, “Be just, O Messenger of Allah.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim – Book of Zakāh – on the Khawārij and their characteristics – vol. 2, p. 744, ḥadīth no. 148.
(1) The discussion of the book al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyyah wa-l-Zanādiqah by Imām Aḥmad has been mentioned above.
(2) al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyyah wa-l-Zanādiqah by Imām Aḥmad, pp. 101–105.
(3) In the manuscript: “radʿu” – a scribal error.
(4) In all copies: “al-Tirmidhī,” as confirmed by al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyyah wa-l-Zanādiqah. It is a renowned city, one of the principal centers of Khurāsān, on the eastern bank of the Jayḥūn River, surrounded by walls with markets paved in brick. Some scholars, such as al-Tirmidhī, author of the Ṣaḥīḥ, and others, are named after it.
See Mu‘jam al-Buldān by al-Ḥamawī, vol. 2, pp. 26–27; al-Rawḍ al-Miʿṭār by al-Ḥumayrī, p. 132.