among the affirmationists. They maintained, however: “Wisdom is something separate from Him and does not subsist in Him,” just as they said of His speech and will. The Jabriyyah seized upon this to argue against them, saying: “A wise person acts for a wise purpose that pertains to himself. If it does not pertain to himself, he is not wise but foolish.”

The Jabriyyah may be answered as follows: The very argument by which you deny wisdom is the argument used by those philosophers and others who deny will. They say: “Will can belong only to one who can benefit, suffer harm, experience pain, and feel pleasure. Affirming will without these things is inconceivable.” Yet you say: “We agree with the early generations and all the other adherents of the Sunnah in affirming will.” Whatever answer you give to this objection is also the answer that the other adherents of the Sunnah can give you when you affirm a will without a wise purpose for which the act is willed. This has been discussed at length elsewhere, where the ambiguous terms in the wording of this argument have also been explained. And Allah knows best.

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Affirming the testimony of those endowed with knowledge entails that others besides Him—created beings, both angels and humans—bear witness to His oneness. This is agreed upon: they bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and they testify to what He has testified concerning Himself.