Likewise, earlier scholars such as Abū al-Maʿālī and his associates relied chiefly on the argument that the Karrāmiyyah had affirmed this position and contradicted themselves. They would expose the Karrāmiyyah’s contradictions, imagining that, by exposing the contradictions of their opponents, they had won the argument. They did not realize that the early generations and the leading scholars of the Sunnah and hadith—indeed, groups predating the Karrāmiyyah—paid no heed to the Karrāmiyyah or their like. Rather, they had spoken of this before the Karrāmiyyah even existed. Ibn Karrām came later, after Ahmad ibn Hanbal, in the time of Muslim ibn al-Hajjāj and his contemporaries. The leading scholars of the Sunnah and the speculative theologians had discussed these matters before them, and the early generations had always affirmed what this entails.

However, when the Jahmiyyah, who denied the divine attributes, emerged in the early second century AH, Muslim scholars explained their misguidance and errors. Then the folly of the Jahmiyyah came to the fore in the early third century AH, and the scholars—Imam Ahmad and others—were subjected to persecution. They therefore devoted themselves to refuting the Jahmiyyah and exposing their misguidance. Imam Ahmad even compiled the Quranic verses demonstrating the falsity of their position, and these are very numerous. Indeed, the verses indicating “attributes exercised by His will,” which they call “the inherence of temporal events,” are very numerous. An example is His statement, Exalted is He:

“We created you, then fashioned you, then said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ so they prostrated.”

This clearly shows that He commanded the angels to prostrate only after creating Adam; He did not command them in pre-eternity. Likewise, He says:

“Indeed, the likeness of Jesus in Allah’s sight is that of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was.”

Thus, He said this to him only after creating him from dust, not in pre-eternity.