and those who liken Allah to His creation, as can be seen in their works on religious doctrines. They include among them Mālik and his companions, Hammād ibn Salamah and his peers, al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh, and other such imams.

When Abū al-Hudhayl, the imam of the Muʿtazilah, and his followers maintained that Allah is not a body, while Hishām ibn al-Hakam and his followers maintained that He is, the latter said, “A body is that which exists; it is that which subsists in itself. By ‘body,’ nothing is meant except that which subsists in itself, and nothing that subsists in itself can be conceived of except a body.” They also said, “The claim