As for his statement, “It can only be expressed through something other,” the reply is:

(First, monotheism is expressed through speech, and Allah expresses His oneness through His speech. According to the early generations and the imams, Allah’s speech, knowledge, power, and other attributes are not to be described without qualification as either “Allah” or “other than Allah.”

The word “other” may mean something that exists separately from another, and Allah’s attributes do not exist separately from Him. It may also mean something that is not identical to Him, and an attribute of Allah is not identical to Him. Thus, according to one usage, it is said to be other than Him, while according to the other, it is not. Neither expression should therefore be used without explaining what is intended.

Otherwise, an innovator might argue, “If Allah’s attribute is other than Him, then everything other than Allah is created,” and use this to claim that Allah’s knowledge, power, and speech are not attributes subsisting in Him, but are instead created in something other than Him. Such denial of the Creator’s attributes and repudiation of His perfection constitute one of the gravest forms of heresy. This is the doctrine of the Jahmiyyah, whom the early generations and the imams declared unbelievers in general terms, although a particular individual is not judged an unbeliever until the proof whose rejection constitutes unbelief has been established against him.

Furthermore, these heretics may be told: If nothing other than Him exists in any respect, it necessarily follows that created beings’ speech, eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, fornication, unbelief, polytheism, and all the abominable acts they commit are the very existence of Allah.

It is well known that anyone who makes these things attributes of Allah is among the worst of people in unbelief and misguidance. Whoever says that they are identical with Allah’s existence is even more unbelieving and misguided, for attributes and accidents are not identical with the existent entity that subsists in itself. Leaders of these heretics, such as Ibn ‘Arabī, say: