and you do not affirm that either, then, in response to this argument, they say: ‘He is One, exalted above composition and combination; yet He is neither small nor insignificant.’”

His statement, “Our opponents in this matter are either the Karrāmiyyah or the Hanbalīs,” is therefore unsound. In particular, these Hanbalīs whom he describes—if they actually exist—are only one group among the Hanbalīs living in his time or earlier in Khurāsān and elsewhere. They are neither leading Hanbalī scholars nor among their most eminent members. Indeed, we know of none of them who used the expressions he attributes to the Hanbalīs, as we shall explain.

Likewise, the Karrāmiyyah whose position he relates are only some of the Karrāmiyyah; many others among them may disagree with the position he attributes to them. Rather, his opponents in this matter are all the prophets and messengers, all the Companions and Successors, all the leading scholars of the religion, earlier and later, and all believers who retain their sound innate disposition—leaving aside whatever aspects of this have been disputed. For they do not apply to Allah the unqualified description he has mentioned, although some of them, as well as some members of all the other groups, expressly affirm attributes that he and others like him call parts and portions. Yet they do not use ambiguous, misleading expressions unless revelation expressly uses them. As for expressions not found in revelation, they do not use them unless their correct meaning, consistent with revelation, has been clarified and they have rejected