several examples of arguments advanced by the Jahmiyyah, the Rāfidah, and others. These include the Jahmiyyah’s appeal, in denying Allah’s attributes, to His words:

“Say: He is Allah, One;
Allah, the Eternal Refuge.”

It has been established in several places that these verses indicate the opposite of what they seek to prove and support affirming the attributes. This is discussed at length elsewhere in the refutation of the Jahmiyyah, which includes an examination of the foundations of their principles as compiled by Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Rāzī in his work entitled Ta’sīs al-Taqdīs (Establishing Divine Transcendence). He gathered most of their arguments in it, and I have seen no comparable work of theirs.

The same applies to their appeal, in denying that Allah will be seen, to His words:

“Vision cannot encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision.”

This verse affirms that He will be seen while denying that vision can encompass Him.

Likewise, they appeal to His words:

“There is nothing like Him,”

and similar passages. The same applies to the Shī‘ah’s appeal to His words:

“Your ally is none but Allah, His Messenger, and those who believe,”

and to the Prophet’s words:

“Are you not content to be to me as Aaron was to Moses?”

These and similar texts are evidence for the opposite of their doctrine, as explained at length in Minhāj Ahl al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (The Path of the People of the Prophetic Sunnah), in refutation of the Rāfidah. There are numerous comparable examples.

Our concern here, however, is with “rational proofs,” for everyone with knowledge knows that scriptural evidence points only to the affirmation of the attributes. As for the Rāfidah, their mainstay is scriptural evidence, but they fabricated a great many hadiths, many of which gained acceptance among the people of the Sunnah. Many people transmitted some of these hadiths, until distinguishing truth from falsehood became difficult for most people, except the leading hadith scholars versed in the hidden defects of both their texts and their chains of transmission.