of that is forbidden by Allah and His Messenger. The early generations did not disapprove of these expressions merely because they were technical conventions, nor did they disapprove of reasoning from sound evidence brought by the Messenger. Rather, they disapproved of false statements contrary to the Quran and the Sunnah. Whatever contradicts the Quran and the Sunnah is false and cannot be substantiated by either reason or revelation.

Thus, when Abū al-‘Abbās ibn Surayj was asked about Allah’s oneness, he explained the Muslims’ affirmation of His oneness, then said:

“As for the affirmation of Allah’s oneness by the people of falsehood, it consists of delving into substances and accidents. Allah sent the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to reject that.”

He did not mean that the Prophet rejected these two terms, for they had not yet been introduced in his time. Rather, he meant the rejection of the false meanings intended by them. The first to introduce these terms were the Jahmiyyah and the Mu‘tazilah. Their purpose was to deny Allah’s attributes, or that He can be seen, or that He possesses speech as an attribute. The Jahmiyyah also denied His names.

The first person known to have denied these things was al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham, whom Khālid ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Qasrī sacrificed at Wāsit. He said:

“O people, offer your sacrifices—may Allah accept your sacrifices—for I am sacrificing al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham. He claims that Allah did not take Abraham as a close friend and did not truly speak to Moses. Exalted is Allah, far above what al-Ja‘d says!”

Then he came down and slaughtered him. The statements of the early generations and the imams condemning this speculative theology and its adherents are set out at length elsewhere.