the affairs of this creation.’ We asked, ‘Is the One who governs the affairs of this creation unknown, not known by any attribute?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ We said, ‘The Muslims now know that you follow nothing.’”

In this passage, Ahmad said, “The Muslims now know,” whereas earlier he said, “People now know.” Here he was discussing whether He is worshipped and whether they worship Him, whereas earlier he was discussing whether He exists. When they described Him solely through negation, he explained that rational people know that what is described solely through negation is nonexistence. Thus, people knew that they affirm nothing.

Here, when he asked them whom they worshipped, they replied that they worshipped the One who governs creation, yet said that He is unknown and not known by any attribute. The Muslims therefore knew that they worship nothing, because worship is fundamentally a matter of intending and desiring the object of worship, and intention and desire necessarily entail knowledge of what is intended and desired.

Whatever is unknown and not known by any attribute cannot be an object of intention and therefore cannot be an object of worship. Worship is a religious matter commanded by Allah and His Messenger, and it is the foundation of the Muslims’ religion.

For this reason, he said here: “The Muslims now know that you follow nothing. You merely ward off reproach from yourselves through what you outwardly profess.” He thus explained that people know