So Jahm devised a similar argument and said to the Sumani, “Do you not claim that there is a spirit within you?”

He replied, “Yes.”

Jahm asked, “Have you seen your spirit?”

He replied, “No.”

“Have you heard it speak?”

“No.”

“Have you detected any scent from it?”

“No.”

“Have you perceived any sensory sign of it or felt it by touch?”

“No.”

Jahm said, “Likewise, no face of Allah is seen, no voice of His is heard, and no scent of His is detected. He is hidden from sight and is not in one place to the exclusion of another.”

He found three Quranic verses among those whose meanings are not entirely clear, namely His words:

“There is nothing like Him.” Al-Shūrā: 11.

“And He is Allah in the heavens and on the earth.” Al-An‘ām: 3.

“Vision does not encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision.” Al-An‘ām k 103.

He made these verses the foundation of his doctrine, interpreted the Quran contrary to its true interpretation, and rejected the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, as false. He claimed that anyone who attributed to Allah anything with which He describes Himself in His Book, or which His Messenger reported concerning Him, was an unbeliever and one of those who liken Allah to His creation,