is their position. They do not hold that it is obligatory upon every individual, though they may hold that it is a communal obligation.

Second: The position of the early generations is known through reports of their statements or the testimony of those well acquainted with them. The formulation he has given has not been transmitted from any of the early generations, nor reported by anyone recounting their consensus. We have cited a selection of their statements on this subject, along with statements by people from all groups who report their positions, in the response to the Hamawī fatwa refuting the Jahmiyyah, and elsewhere. Yet his account of the position of the early generations and of entrusting the meaning to Allah appears only in the writings of Abū Hāmid and others like him, who are not well acquainted with the words of the early generations—may Allah have mercy on them—or even with the words of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Thus, they cannot distinguish between what is authentic in these reports and