nor a form. Then they said, ‘He has no life.’ Then they said, ‘He is nothing, for if He were something, He would resemble other things.’ Their arguments revolved around the doctrine of the leading heretics of old, who said, ‘The Creator neither has attributes nor lacks attributes.’

The scholars feared for the hearts of weak Muslims and those among them who were heedless and lacked understanding, since these people outwardly adhered to the Quran—even if they used it as a refuge from the sword and a means of escaping it—and since they professed monotheism, conversed with Muslims, and wore mantles. So the scholars exposed their faults, denounced the evil they harbored, and publicly revealed the hidden subtleties of their doctrines. How long they suffered in their day from the swords of the caliphs, the tongues of the scholars, and the ostracism of the common people! Indeed, I have filled the book Takfīr al-Jahmiyyah (Declaring the Jahmiyyah Unbelievers) with statements by the scholars of Islam