He will say, “Yes.”

Then say to him, “When He created things, did He create them within Himself or outside Himself?” He must then adopt one of “three positions”:

First, if he claims that Allah created creation within Himself, he has disbelieved by claiming that He created the jinn, human beings and devils within Himself.

If he says, “He created them outside Himself, then entered into them,” this too is disbelief, since he claims that He entered a filthy, unclean and foul place.

If he says, “He created them outside Himself and did not then enter into them,” he has abandoned his position entirely. This is the position of the people of the Sunnah.

Imam Ahmad has thus explained what is known through sound reason and the self-evident dictates of the natural disposition: He must have created creation either within Himself or outside Himself. If He created it outside Himself, then either He subsequently indwelt it or He has always remained distinct from it. Thus, he mentioned the three possibilities.

He also said in the course of his discussion:

“When the proof was established against the Jahmī concerning his claim about Allah—that He is with His creation in everything, without being in contact with anything or distinct from it—we said, ‘If He is not distinct from it, is He not in contact with it?’

“He said, ‘No.’

“We said, ‘How, then, can He be in something without being