these hadiths. Abū ‘Abd Allāh replied:

‘We believe in them and affirm their truth, without specifying how or assigning a meaning—that is, we do not specify their manner or distort them through interpretation, saying, “They mean such and such.” We reject none of them, and we know that what the Messenger brought is true when transmitted through authentic chains. We do not reject Allah’s words, nor is Allah to be described beyond what He has said of Himself, without any limit or bound. There is nothing like Him.’”

Elsewhere, Hanbal reported that Ahmad said:

“Nothing resembles Him in His essence, as He has described Himself. Blessed and Exalted is He, He has described Himself in general terms, defining an attribute for Himself; nothing resembles Him. Thus we worship Allah as possessing His attributes, which are neither delimited nor known except through His own description of Himself.”

He said:

“He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, without limit or measure. Those who describe Him cannot encompass His attributes. His attributes come from Him and belong to Him. We do not go beyond the Quran and hadith: we say what He has said and describe Him as He has described Himself, without going beyond that.

“The descriptions of those who describe Him cannot encompass Him. We believe in the whole Quran, both its clear and its ambiguous passages. We do not deny Him any of His attributes because of any denunciation directed against it. What He has described Himself with—speaking, descending, being alone with His servant on the Day of Resurrection, and placing His shoulder upon him—all indicates that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, will be seen in the Hereafter. Assigning limits in any of this is an innovation.

“We submit to Allah concerning His command, without any description or limit except what He has described Himself with: All-Hearing, All-Seeing, ever speaking, knowing, and forgiving; the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the All-Knower of