a minister to these polytheists. They placed him over the groups associated with learning, whom they call the Dāshmandiyya, drawn from all communities—Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others. His rise to prominence brought about an indescribable spread of hypocrisy and heresy among those associated with learning. He dealt with the Muslims, as far as he was able, as would enemies who defy Allah and His Messenger, notwithstanding his philosophy, accommodating disposition, forbearance, and policies conforming to the doctrine of the Sabians followed by Jews and Christians: embracing Christianity and polytheism. Yet he does not make their departure from Islam, their hypocrisy, and their heresy evident to every Muslim.

Our concern here, however, is with the Jahmiyyah, who hold adherence to Islam obligatory and adherence to any other religion forbidden. They employ ambiguous expressions in numbers that only Allah can count, intending meanings they do not convey to people. This applies both to the scriptural expressions in the Book of Allah Most High and the Sunnah of His Messenger, when they profess belief in them, and to the terms they themselves adopt to explain what must be affirmed concerning the fundamentals of religion and the attributes of Allah Most High. They give people the impression that they deny of Allah only what might appear to be a deficiency