and similar works, he espoused only the view of the early generations and the adherents of hadith: that faith consists of speech and action, and increases and decreases.

Jahm held the same view concerning faith as he did concerning Allah, in whom one has faith: namely, that if He is one, He cannot have attributes, and that His oneness precludes His being living, powerful and knowing, possessing life, power and knowledge. Likewise, he believed that faith could only be a single thing in which all those possessing it are equal; that it could only consist of a single quality; and that this quality could only be mere knowledge.

He believed it inconceivable for something that is one to comprise multiple things, since, in his view, this would entail composition and division. On this assumption, he denied this of faith just as he denied it of Allah Most High. Thus, he denied that anything within faith could be distinguished from anything else, whether in reality or in thought, just as he maintained concerning Allah Most High.

That being so, it is clear that those who say He is a body—meaning that He exists and subsists in Himself, and that nothing subsisting in itself is conceivable except a body—hold two positions. Some say that He also has length, breadth and depth; others say that He has neither parts nor portions. It is also clear that this is one of the matters on which they dispute