Yet these people may disagree over certain questions, for this is inevitable in the world. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, foretold that this would inevitably occur, and that when he asked his Lord not to let them turn their violence against one another, his request was denied. Thus, some disagreement is inevitable among groups professing adherence to the Sunnah and the community. Nevertheless, there must be among them a group that holds firmly to the Quran and Sunnah. Likewise, although disputes and differences inevitably arise among Muslims, there will always remain within this nation a group upholding the truth, unharmed by those who oppose or abandon them, until the Hour comes.
Accordingly, since Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī and his followers professed adherence to the Sunnah and the community, he professed allegiance to Imam Ahmad, stating that he took him as his example and followed his path. The agreement and harmonious relations between his leading followers and many followers of Imam Ahmad are well known. Indeed, Abū Bakr ‘Abd al-‘Azīz cited Abū al-Hasan’s arguments in his discussions just as he cited those of his own fellow adherents, because he regarded him as one of their speculative theologians.
Among those most strongly inclined toward them were members of the Tamīmī family: Abū al-Hasan al-Tamīmī, his son, his grandson, and others like them. The affection and companionship between Abū al-Hasan al-Tamīmī and Qādī Abū Bakr ibn al-Bāqillānī were well known and widely recognized. For this reason, when the hadith scholar Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī discussed Imam Ahmad’s creed in the book he compiled on his merits, he relied on what he transmitted from the statements of Abū al-Fadl ‘Abd al-Wāhid ibn Abī al-Hasan al-Tamīmī.
Abū al-Fadl also wrote a work on this subject, setting out Ahmad’s creed as he understood it. He did not reproduce Ahmad’s own words, but instead presented the broad statements of his creed in his own wording, repeatedly using the phrase, “And Abū ‘Abd Allāh was.” He is like someone who writes