and thereby justified their doctrine, I found it necessary to explain the way of the early generations, the sources from which the believers drew, and the path of the earliest Muslims, lest I fall into any of those views against which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, warned his community and which he forbade his followers to adopt, cautioning them against them.”

Abū ‘Abd Allāh then mentioned how the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out while they were disputing about divine decree, and how angry he became. He also cited the hadith, “Let me not find any of you,” and the hadith, “My community will split into seventy-three sects,” explaining that the saved group follows the way that he and his Companions followed.

He then said:

“The entire community is therefore obliged to know the way of the Companions. This knowledge can be reached only through those who followed them in righteousness, who were known for transmitting reports and did not accept newly introduced doctrines. This transmission thus continues, generation after generation, through those known for uprightness and trustworthiness, who preserve for the community its rights and obligations in upholding the Sunnah.”

He went on to say:

“The first thing we shall address is the very reason we raised this question: the mention of ‘the names of Allah, Mighty and Majestic,’ in His Book; what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, explained of ‘His attributes’ in his Sunnah; and the descriptions given of Him, Mighty and Majestic. We shall cite the statements of those who affirm these matters. We may not subject them to the judgments of our own minds by seeking to determine their modality; rather, they are among the matters we have been commanded to accept submissively.”

He went on to say:

“Then Allah made Himself known to us, after His oneness had been established and His sole right to worship acknowledged, through what He, Most High, mentioned in His Book, after confirming the names and attributes with which He began; and he, peace be upon him, reinforced this with his words