Hanbal also related elsewhere that he said: “Nothing is like Him in His essence, as He has described Himself. He, blessed and exalted, has described Himself in general terms, defining for Himself an attribute in which nothing resembles Him. Thus Allah’s servant describes Allah without delimiting Him or knowing Him except through His own description of Himself. Allah, blessed and exalted, says:

‘And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing’ (11) [al-Shūrā 11].”

Hanbal said elsewhere: “He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing, without limit or measure. Those who describe Him cannot encompass His attributes as they belong to Him. We do not go beyond the Quran and hadith: we say what He has said and describe Him as He has described Himself, without going beyond that. The descriptions of those who describe Him cannot encompass Him. We believe in the entire Quran, both its clear and its ambiguous passages. We do not strip Him of any of His attributes because objections are raised against it. What He has described Himself with—speaking, descending, being alone with His servant on the Day of Resurrection, and placing His covering over him—all indicates that Allah, blessed and exalted, will be seen in the Hereafter. Setting limits in this matter is an innovation, and submission to Allah