Imam Ahmad said: “The Jahmiyyah said, ‘If you speak of Allah and His light, Allah and His power, and Allah and His greatness, then you have adopted the Christians’ position by claiming that Allah and His light have always existed, and that Allah and His power have always existed.’

“We replied, ‘We do not say that Allah and His power have always existed, or that Allah and His light have always existed. Rather, we say that He has always possessed His power and His light, without specifying a “when” or a “how” for His power.’

“They said, ‘You will never affirm Allah’s oneness until you say that Allah existed and nothing else existed.’ But when we say that Allah has always possessed all His attributes, are we not describing one God with all His attributes?

“We offered them an illustration, saying, ‘Tell us about this date palm: does it not have a trunk, frond bases, fibre, fronds, khawd, and a tender heart? Yet its name denotes a single thing, and it is called a date palm with all its characteristics. Likewise, Allah—to whom belongs the highest description—is one God with all His attributes.’”

Later he said: “Allah described a disbelieving man named al-Walīd, saying:

‘Leave Me with the one I created alone.’

[al-Muddaththir 11]

And he had