Moses directly.” Then he stepped down and slaughtered him.

Al-Jahm ibn Safwān had adopted this doctrine from him, proclaimed it openly, and argued in its defence. The Jahmiyyah doctrine was named after him. Salm ibn Ahwaz, the governor of Khurāsān, then killed him there. This doctrine subsequently passed to the Muʿtazilah, the followers of ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd. Their views gained prominence during the caliphate of al-Maʾmūn, until the imams of Islam were subjected to an inquisition and called upon to agree with them on this.

This doctrine of theirs was originally derived from the polytheists and Sabians among the Brahmins, the philosophers, and the innovators among the People of the Book, who claim that the Lord has no positive attributes whatsoever. These are the enemies of Abraham, Allah’s close friend, peace be upon him. They worship the heavenly bodies and build temples dedicated to intellects, stars, and other things. In reality, they deny that Abraham was Allah’s close friend or that Moses was one to whom He spoke, for close friendship is the perfection of love that wholly absorbs the lover. As the poet said:

You have permeated the pathways of my soul;
Thus a close friend bears the name khalīl.

This is supported by the report established in the Sahīh from Abū Saʿīd, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Were I to take anyone on earth as a close friend, I would take Abū Bakr as a close friend. But your companion is Allah’s close friend”—meaning himself.

In another version:

“I renounce the close friendship of every close friend. Were I to take anyone on earth as a close friend, I would take Abū Bakr as a close friend.”

In another version: “Allah has taken me as a close friend, just as He took Abraham