into it, and they would guide their students to the Book and the Sunnah. So beware of engaging in it or consulting their writings under any circumstance.”
I say: The statement of Ibn Khuzaymah—known as the “Imam of the Imams”—that “discourse on the divine names and attributes [is of the same kind that Mālik forbade regarding the names and attributes] (1)-,” refers to this very “tawḥīd” innovated by the Jahmiyyah and their followers (2). Ibn Khuzaymah himself has a well-known book on monotheism (3) in which he mentions the attributes of Allah as expressed in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Messenger.
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said (4): “I heard my father say: I asked Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Surayj (5), ‘What is tawḥīd?’ He replied, ‘The tawḥīd of the scholars and the Muslim community is to testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The “tawḥīd” of the people of falsehood is to plunge into talk about accidents and bodies; the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was only sent to repudiate such talk.’
This accords with what has preceded, demonstrating that delving into the questions of body, accident, and the negation of
(1) The words enclosed in brackets are an addition found in manuscripts S and T.
(2) In manuscript S the reading is: “ibtadaʿahu” (he introduced it).
(3) For Ibn Khuzaymah, see the biographical note on p. 165. His work bears the full printed title: al-Tawhid wa Ithbat Sifat al-Rabb—may He be exalted—All of Which He Ascribed to Himself in the Revelation He sent down to His chosen Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and which has been transmitted on the Prophet’s tongue in sound, authentic reports conveyed by upright narrators in uninterrupted chains with no discredit to their trustworthy transmitters. The published edition was reviewed and annotated by Muhammad Khalil Harras. A more rigorously verified scholarly edition has been prepared by Dr. ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Ibrahim al-Shahwan, given the book’s importance and the breadth of its author’s transmission—may Allah have mercy on him.
(4) Dham al-Kalam by al-Harawi—manuscript, vol. 6, layer 7, folio 40. See also al-Suyuti, Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam, p. 75.
(5) All extant copies read “Sarih,” which is incorrect. The correct form is confirmed by Dham al-Kalam and Sawn al-Mantiq. His biography appeared above on p. 197.