the One who acts by His power, will, and wisdom. He possesses attributes and performs actions, and bears names whose realities and meanings subsist in Him. Only the followers of the messengers truly affirm this; they are the true people of justice and monotheism.
Section
The Jahmiyyah and Muʿtazilah claim that His essence is not loved, His Face is not sought, no delight is taken in beholding Him, and hearts do not yearn for Him. Thus, they are in reality deniers of His divinity.
The Qadariyyah deny that the actions of angels, jinn, human beings, and all other living creatures fall within His power, will, and creation. Thus, they are in reality deniers of the perfection of His might and sovereignty.
The Jabriyyah deny His wisdom and deny that His actions and commands have any end for which He acts and commands. Thus, they are in reality deniers of His wisdom and praiseworthiness.
The followers of Ibn Sīnā and Nasīr al-Tūsī, and their brood, deny that their Lord has an essence distinct from absolute existence, or any positive attribute beyond the essence of existence. Thus, they are in reality deniers of our Lord’s essence, attributes, and actions, and they have no qualms about it.
The monists are worse and more pernicious still. They have torn out the very foundations, saying: “There is no existence belonging to a Creator and another belonging to creation. Rather, creation, to which likeness is attributed, is identical with the Real, who is declared free of likeness. All of this comes from one reality; indeed, it is that one reality.”
None of these groups upholds this great testimony. It entails the refutation and rejection of their positions, just as it entails the refutation and rejection of the polytheists’ position. It invalidates the doctrines of both those who associate partners with Allah and those who deny His attributes. Only the people of monotheism who affirm His attributes uphold this testimony: those who affirm for Allah the names and attributes He has affirmed for Himself, deny that He resembles created beings, and worship Him alone, associating nothing with Him.