could His being al-Samad cease unless nonexistence were possible for Him, which is impossible. Thus, He necessarily possesses the quality of being al-Samad only if it is inseparable from Him, and this precludes His nonexistence. He does necessarily possess this quality; He did not become al-Samad after not having been so—exalted and holy is He—for that would imply that He had been in separate parts and was then assembled, and that He was something made, brought into existence, and fashioned. These are characteristics of His creatures.

As for the Creator, who is eternal without beginning, it is impossible for Him to be nonexistent, to have been made, or to need anything besides Himself in any respect. None of these things is therefore possible for Him. It follows that He has always been al-Samad and will always remain al-Samad. Thus, it cannot be said that He was in separate parts and then came together, or that He could become separated, or even that anything could come out of Him or enter Him.

This is agreed upon among the various Muslim groups, both those adhering to the Sunnah and those following innovations. Although some ignorant or uninformed individuals may say otherwise, the corrupt imaginings of such people know no bounds. Likewise, no Muslim group maintains that He was begotten or that He begets, although some disbelievers have said this. Indeed, those who profess philosophy and affiliate themselves with Islam have made statements concerning generation and causation that are worse than what those disbelievers said.

As for affirming His attributes, that He will be seen in the Hereafter, that He speaks the Quran and other words, and that His speech is uncreated—this is the position of the Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, the imams of the Muslims, and Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah across all their groups. The disagreement over this with the Jahmiyyah and the Mu‘tazilah is well known