namely Moses, peace be upon him—and His servants will behold Him in the Hereafter. It is not a prerequisite of existence that every person perceive a thing at all times, or even that such perception be possible for every person at any time; in fact, the majority of existing things do not meet that condition. Rather, once perception of it is possible—even for some people at some times—it is correct to say that it can be perceived.

Allah, exalted be He, has said:

“It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger who then conveys, by His permission, whatever He wills. Truly He is Most High, All-Wise.” (1)

This is the very premise by which Jahm and his followers went astray: they alleged that Allah cannot be seen and that none of the senses can apprehend Him, just as their first spokesman, in his debate with the al-Samanīyah, admitted the possibility of an existent that cannot be sensed. Consequently, all those who affirm the divine attributes—whether practitioners of kalām or otherwise (2)—have set out to demolish this principle on which the Jahmiyyah built their case. They have affirmed what the Book and the Sunnah establish—that Allah will be seen, that His speech is heard, and so forth—and they have also demonstrated, through rational proofs (3), that