For this reason, Imam Ahmad said in the introduction to his work refuting the heretics and the Jahmiyyah concerning the unclear passages of the Quran which they doubted and interpreted contrary to their true meaning:

“All praise is due to Allah, who, in every age without messengers, has preserved a remnant of scholars who call those who have gone astray to guidance and patiently endure the harm they suffer at their hands. Through Allah’s Book they bring the dead to life, and through Allah’s light they give sight to the blind. How many whom Iblīs has slain have they brought back to life, and how many lost and wandering souls have they guided! How good their effect upon people, and how evil people’s treatment of them!

“They defend Allah’s Book against the distortions of those who go to excess, the false claims of those who promote falsehood, and the interpretations of the ignorant—those who have raised the banners of innovation and unleashed turmoil. They disagree over the Book, oppose the Book, and agree on departing from the Book. They make claims about Allah and speak of Allah and His Book without knowledge. They use ambiguous language and deceive ignorant people through the confusion they sow. We therefore seek refuge in Allah from the trials caused by those who lead others astray.”