addresses them, as they claim—exists only in their minds, or has no existence apart from that of created beings. This amounts to denying the Lord Most High, His Books, and His messengers. Religious innovations are a gateway to unbelief and hypocrisy, just as Shi‘ism is a gateway to Rāfidism, and Rāfidism is a gateway to Qarmatian doctrine and denial of God. Thus, speculative theology containing Jahmī elements is a gateway to Jahmism, and Jahmism is a gateway to heresy and denial of God.

It is authentically reported in Sahīh Muslim that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Know that none of you will see his Lord until he dies.”

For this reason, the early generations of the Muslim community and its leading scholars agreed that Allah will be seen in the Hereafter, and that no one sees Him with his eyes in this world.

Aisha and Ibn ‘Abbās expressed well-known views concerning whether the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw his Lord. Aisha denied that he saw Him, whereas it is authentically reported from Ibn ‘Abbās in Sahīh Muslim that he said:

“Muhammad saw his Lord with his heart twice.”

Ahmad likewise reported from Abū Dharr and others the affirmation that the Prophet saw Him with his heart. This explicitly reported position of Ibn ‘Abbās, Abū Dharr, and others is also the position explicitly reported from Ahmad and other leading scholars of the Sunnah. No affirmation of seeing Allah with the eyes in this world has been authentically established from any of them, just as no denial of seeing Him in the Hereafter has been authentically established from any of them.

Both positions, however, are held by groups among the Jahmīs. Jahmī speculative theologians deny the vision, while some Jahmī Sufis—such as those who profess the unity of existence—and a group of others affirm it. Those who profess the unity of existence combine denial and affirmation, as Ibn Sab‘īn says:

“The very thing you see is an essence not seen, and an essence not seen is the very thing you see.”

They make similar statements, for their doctrine