Shaykh al-Islām Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah. We seek His help and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil within ourselves and from our evil deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whomever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that none is worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah bless him and his family and grant them abundant peace.

Section: “The Name and What It Names”

Is the name identical to what it names, or distinct from it? Or should it be described as neither identical to it nor distinct from it? Or does the name belong to what it names? Or must distinctions be made in this matter?

People have disagreed over this, and the controversy became widespread after the time of the imams—after Ahmad and others. The known position of the imams of the Sunnah, Ahmad and others, was to denounce the Jahmiyyah, who say: “Allah’s names are created.”