He was asked about someone who claimed that “Imam Ahmad” had been among the foremost deniers of the attributes—the attributes of Allah Most High—and that his followers within his school had merely supposed him to uphold the affirmation of the attributes, as opposed to their negation, because they were unaware of what had happened to him. For something remarkable had happened to him:

Some “heretics” knew of Ahmad’s asceticism, scrupulousness, and piety, and that people followed the views he adopted. They therefore compiled statements affirming the attributes and attributed them to Quran commentaries and hadith collections. They also attributed much of this material to the Companions, the imams, and others—even to Ahmad himself, putting words into his mouth. They placed it all in a locked chest and asked Imam Ahmad to accept the chest from them for safekeeping. They made out that they were setting out on a journey or something of the sort, and that they intended to return to collect what they had entrusted to him. They knew that he would not examine the contents of the chest.

It remained with him until Allah took his soul. His followers and those who had studied under him then entered, found the chest, and opened it. Inside, they found those “fabricated hadiths” and “commentaries and transmitted reports” supporting the affirmation of the attributes.

They said: “Had Imam Ahmad not believed what was in these books, he would not have placed them in this chest and guarded them so carefully.” They then read those books and circulated them among the writings and teachings of his that they made public