expressions, without exception, and others like them are not transmitted from any of the Companions, the Successors, or the recognized imams of the religion. No hadith containing them is narrated from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor are they found in any of the Books Allah revealed. Rather, they are among the sayings of the Jahmiyyah and the speculative discourse that the early generations unanimously condemned when its proponents introduced it.

Thus, wherever the early generations condemned the Jahmiyyah, those who use these expressions were included in that condemnation. Likewise, wherever they condemned speculative theology and its practitioners, those who use these expressions were included. When the innovators introduced these expressions, the imams of the religion frequently condemned them. Their statements on this subject are numerous, and books have been devoted to it. Indeed, the early generations and the imams explicitly mentioned these very expressions and others like them among the things they denounced in the teachings of the Jahmiyyah and the proponents of newly introduced speculative theology.

We have already cited Imam Ahmad’s description of Jahm’s doctrine, in which he said: “He interpreted the Quran contrary to its true meaning and rejected the hadiths of the Prophet