two alternatives:

Either they describe Him in terms that entail His nonexistence and negate His reality, thus denying Him even while acknowledging Him. Their statements therefore combine acknowledgment with denial, and negation with affirmation. Some of them explicitly affirm that two contradictories can both be true, claiming that this is the pinnacle of true understanding and spiritual knowledge.

Or they describe Him in terms that entail His being identical with created things, a part of them, or an attribute of them. This likewise entails their affirming the Creator’s nonexistence and denying the Maker, although they acknowledge the existence of something other than Him, even while identifying Him with it. They then find among created things something distinct with respect to the lordship of the created being, and so affirm that two contradictories can both be true—as explained above.

They may also advocate idol worship, maintaining that idol worshippers are in the right, that worshippers of the calf are in the right, and that nothing other than Allah has ever been worshipped, since, in their view, there is no other: existence is one. They maintain that calling people to Him is impossible and that it is possible to draw near to Him and reach Him. They say: “He was not absent at the outset, such that one should be called to the final goal. Rather, He is identical with the one being called; how, then, can He call to Himself?”

The early generations and the leading scholars made very many statements condemning the Jahmiyyah and declaring them disbelievers. These people, together with those who agree with some of their claims that deny the reality of meeting Him, interpret “meeting” as encountering their Lord’s recompense. They say that recompense can be seen, as in His words:

“They say, ‘When will this promise come to pass, if you are truthful?’”

“Say, ‘Knowledge rests with Allah alone, and I am only a clear warner.’”

“But when they see it close at hand, the faces of those who disbelieve will be distressed, and it will be said, ‘This is what