into them, he has abandoned his entire position; and this is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah.”

[He thus made clear] that the created being must necessarily be either within the Creator or outside Him: one of these two alternatives must be affirmed. Likewise, the Creator must be either within creation or outside it. Since this is so, and since His being within creation or creation’s being within Him is impossible, it necessarily follows that He is outside creation and creation is outside Him.

Thus, Imam Ahmad’s question:

“If He is not separate, is He not in contact?”

is a rhetorical question expressing rejection. It implies that knowing Him to be separate, if He is not in contact, is necessary knowledge requiring no proof. Indeed, anyone who denies it is to be rebuked.

Thus, when the Jahmī denied this, Ahmad said:

“We asked, ‘How, then?’

He replied, ‘Without specifying how.’”

Ahmad said:

“With this expression he deceived the ignorant and misled them.”

This is because, concerning the attributes known through revelation conveyed by the Messengers, peace be upon them, we say: without specifying how. Our reason has not apprehended their manner, and we have no knowledge of it.

Likewise, concerning something whose reality, but not whose manner, we know through reason, it is appropriate to say, “Without specifying how”—that is, we know that this matter is established, but we do not know its manner. The Jahmī therefore sought to apply this expression to something whose nonexistence we know through our innate rational faculties,