living, as in His words:

“Every soul will taste death.” [Āl ‘Imrān 185]

If this meant “every essence” or “every reality,” it would include inanimate things. The term likewise implies that what it denotes speaks and acts, subsists in itself, and possesses attributes. Since the term “self” entails affirming attributes that the Jahmiyyah deny, they rejected it. The early generations and imams refuted them on this point. Their refutation was not intended to establish that Allah’s Self is an attribute other than His essence, as some later scholars held. This view is weak, although the Jahmiyyah’s view is weaker still.

In his book Refutation of Figurative Interpretation, al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā said concerning the report, “Whoever remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself”:

“Know that Allah is described as having a Self. Ahmad indicated this in his Refutation of the Jahmiyyah, saying: ‘If you wish to know that the Jahmī lies about Allah Most High when he claims that He is everywhere and is not in one place rather than another, say to him, “Did Allah not exist when nothing else did?” He will say: