any outward deeds whatsoever, he would not thereby become a disbeliever inwardly; rather, this would constitute evidence of disbelief for the purposes of worldly rulings.” When they are confronted with scriptural texts indicating that he will be a disbeliever in the Hereafter, they say:

“These texts indicate that inwardly he possesses no knowledge of Allah whatsoever.”

For they regard such knowledge as a single entity. Thus they contradict both clear reason and explicit revelation. Besides being invalid both rationally and scripturally, this view, upon examination, does not affirm any real faith: they have made faith a single entity devoid of reality. The Jahmiyyah and those who agree with them have said something similar concerning the Lord’s oneness: that He is an essence without attributes. They have also said that the Quran is created and that Allah will not be seen in the Hereafter. Similar, too, are Ibn Kullāb’s statements concerning the oneness of speech and the other attributes. Their positions concerning the Lord, His attributes, His speech, and faith in Him thus amount to sheer negation.

Many later groups have fallen into this, despite their affiliation with the Sunnah, jurisprudence, and hadith, and their adherence to the four imams, while being partisan supporters of the Jahmiyyah and the Muʿtazilah—indeed, of the Murji’ah as well. Because they do not understand the underlying realities from which these innovations arose, they combine contradictory positions.

Yet it is part of Allah’s mercy toward His Muslim servants that the imams who enjoy an honorable reputation within the Muslim community—the four imams and others, such as Mālik, al-Thawrī, al-Awzā’ī, al-Layth ibn Saʿd, al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad, Ishāq, Abū ʿUbayd, Abū Hanīfah, Abū Yūsuf, and Muhammad—used to denounce the Jahmī speculative theologians for their positions concerning the Quran, faith, and the Lord’s attributes. They agreed upon the position of the early generations: that Allah will be seen in the Hereafter, and that