as a commitment upon Himself—and it is kept with Him—‘My mercy prevails over My wrath.’” In another narration: “When Allah created creation, He wrote with His own hand, as a commitment upon Himself: ‘My mercy prevails over My wrath.’”

Abū Bakr said: “Allah has affirmed in His Book that He has a Self. Likewise, He has made it clear through His Prophet that He has a Self, just as He affirmed in His Book.”

He said: “The Jahmiyyah disbelieved in these verses and these reports from the Sunnah. Some of their ignorant adherents claimed that Allah ascribed a Self to Himself only in the same sense that He ascribes creation to Himself. They claimed that His Self is other than Him, just as His creation is other than Him.”

He said: “No one possessed of understanding and knowledge would entertain such a notion, let alone utter it. Allah has made it clear in His revelation as a whole that He has bound Himself to mercy. Could a Muslim imagine that Allah has bound someone other than Himself to mercy? And Allah has warned His servants