what they know of the shared aspect of resemblance. Whatever is negated of Him must entail a positive attribute, as we have established elsewhere. His incompatibility with what is negated of Him, His remoteness from it, and the incompatibility of His positive attributes with it involve aspects unique to Him, shared by none, that are likewise known only to Him.

The term “resemblance,” by contrast, applies to anything that resembles something else, even in certain remote respects. Such resemblance must, by common agreement, be affirmed on both scriptural and rational grounds. Thus, when the imams understood this and understood the true nature of the Jahmiyyah’s position—that their denial of such resemblance in every respect necessarily entails negating the Maker and His existence—they would expose the hypocrisy in their discourse