in their real sense, and claim that whoever affirms them likens Allah to His creation. Those who affirm them, in turn, regard these people as denying the One who is worshipped. The truth lies with those who affirm what the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger declare; they are the imams of the Muslim community.”

Abū Umar said: “The position of Ahl al-Sunnah and the imams of jurisprudence and transmitted reports on this issue and others like it is to believe in what has been reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to affirm its truth, and to refrain from assigning limits or specifying the nature of any of it.”

Abū Umar said: “We have transmitted from Mālik ibn Anas, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Sufyān ibn Uyaynah, al-Awzā‘ī, and Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid that, concerning the hadiths on the divine attributes, they all said: ‘Leave them as they have come.’”