deviant doctrines worse than the followers of Jahm. Their arguments revolve around saying: ‘There is nothing in heaven.’ By Allah, I hold that there should be neither intermarriage nor mutual inheritance with them.”

In al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyyah (The Refutation of the Jahmīs), ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Hātim narrated that ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī said:

“The followers of Jahm intend to say that Allah did not speak to Moses. They intend to say: ‘There is nothing in heaven, and Allah is not upon the Throne.’ I hold that they should be called upon to repent. If they repent, well and good; otherwise, they are to be put to death.”

It is narrated that al-Asma‘ī said:

“Jahm’s wife arrived and lodged among the tanners. A man in her presence said: ‘Allah is upon His Throne.’ She replied: ‘One bounded thing upon another.’”

Al-Asma‘ī said: “She disbelieved by making this statement.”

It is narrated that ‘Āsim ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Āsim—a teacher of Ahmad, al-Bukhārī, and others of their generation—said:

“I debated a Jahmī, and it became clear from his words that he did not believe that there is a Lord in heaven.”

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybānī narrated: Surayj ibn al-Nu‘mān informed us, saying that he heard ‘Abd Allāh ibn Nāfi‘ al-Sā’igh say:

“I heard Mālik ibn Anas say: ‘Allah is in heaven, and His knowledge is everywhere; no place is devoid of His knowledge.’”

Al-Shāfi‘ī said:

“The caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq is rightful. Allah decreed it in heaven and united the hearts of His servants upon it.”