toward His servants, more merciful to them than a mother is to her child, then this necessarily calls for His servants to love and praise Him.

But suppose it is said instead: “Rather, He creates what is pure evil, containing no benefit, mercy, or wisdom for anyone. He is characterized only by a will that favors one of two equivalent alternatives over the other. To Him, there is no difference between showing mercy and inflicting punishment. Neither His very being nor His will favors kindness toward creation; rather, tormenting them and granting them bliss are equal in His sight. Moreover, He creates what He creates solely for torment and evil, and does what He does without any wise purpose”—and other such claims made by the Jahmiyyah. This would not call for His servants to love and praise Him. Rather, it would call for the opposite.

For this reason, many of these people utter words of blame, abuse, and disparagement, expressing them in both poetry and prose. Many of their shaykhs and scholars say things that imply this. Those who do not voice it have hearts filled with it, but they see no benefit in expressing it or fear the Muslim public. Similar sentiments appear in the poetry of a number of these shaykhs. These people advance the arguments of Iblīs and his followers against Allah and portray the Lord as unjust toward them.