the Most Holy, the One free from all imperfection. As for attributes of perfection—[such as] knowledge, power, and mercy—none of His attributes equals any attribute of His creatures. This is the wording of al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā in his book “Refutation of Figurative Interpretations of Reports Concerning the Divine Attributes,” even though he compiled therein the reports concerning the attributes and refuted the figurative interpretations advanced by Ibn Fūrak and others, such as those mentioned by al-Rāzī in his “Foundation of His Sanctification.”

Al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā said:

“It is not permissible to reject these reports or to occupy oneself with interpreting them figuratively. Rather, one must take them according to their apparent meaning and affirm that they describe attributes of Allah, which bear no resemblance to any created beings described by those attributes. No likeness to creation is to be believed concerning them; rather, they are to be understood in accordance with what has been transmitted from Imam Ahmad and the other imams.”

He then cited the statements of al-Zuhrī, Makhūl, Mālik, al-Thawrī,