He said,

“I had previously been asked about the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah, so some years ago I replied to it in a small booklet.” (1)

They sent for that booklet from his home; it was brought and read aloud. They disputed with him over two or three passages, and the session grew so long that they adjourned. They met twice more to finish reading the booklet and subjected him to close cross-examination (2).

A joint report was then submitted stating that the booklet contained a sound Salafi creed, though some affirmed this only begrudgingly. The Egyptians (3) had meanwhile been agitating against the Shaykh and had filled the ears of Rukn al-Dīn al-Jāshankīz (4)—who had taken power in Egypt—so he issued an urgent order for the Shaykh to be brought to Egypt by express courier.

On the second day after his arrival, the judges and jurists assembled in the Cairo Citadel. Shams al-Dīn Ibn ʿAdlān presented himself as the accuser and, before Ibn Makhlūf, the Mālikī judge, alleged that the Shaykh maintained: “Allah spoke the Qur’an with letter and voice; that the Exalted is upon the Throne bi-dhātihi (in His very Self); and that Allah may be indicated by a tangible, physical gesture.” (5)

He concluded, “I demand that he be punished for this.”

The judge asked, “What do you say, O jurist?”

He praised Allah and extolled Him.

They said, “Be brief; we did not summon you to deliver a sermon.”

He replied, “Is praising Allah forbidden?”

The judge said, “Answer; you have already praised Allah.”