Al-Shāfi‘ī said at the beginning of the introduction to al-Risālah (The Treatise): “All praise is due to Allah, who is as He has described Himself and above how His creation describes Him.” He thus explained—may Allah have mercy on him—that Allah is described as He has described Himself in His Book and through His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal likewise said:

Allah is to be described only as He has described Himself or as His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has described Him, without distorting or negating His attributes, specifying how they are, or likening them to those of creation. Rather, they affirm for Him the most beautiful names and sublime attributes that He has affirmed for Himself, knowing that “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing”—whether in His attributes, His essence, or His actions.

He went on to say:

He is the One who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, then rose over the Throne. He is the One who spoke directly to Moses and manifested Himself to the mountain, reducing it to dust. Nothing resembles Him in any of His attributes: no one’s knowledge is like His knowledge; no one’s power is like His power; no one’s mercy is like His mercy; no one’s rising is like His rising; no one’s hearing or sight is like His hearing or sight; no one’s speaking is like His speaking; and no one’s self-manifestation is like His self-manifestation.

Allah, glorified is He, has told us that Paradise contains meat, milk, honey, water, silk, and gold. Ibn ‘Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—said: “Nothing in this world shares anything with what is in the Hereafter except the names.”