then she shall have half.” Likewise, His words:

“And there is none comparable to Him.”

The meaning is that no one whatsoever is comparable to Him. If “one” denotes something in which nothing can be distinguished from anything else, and nothing can be pointed to separately from anything else, then nothing that exists is “one” except what they claim concerning the indivisible atom and the Lord of the worlds. In that case, He would not have denied that any existing thing could be comparable to the Lord, since it would not fall within the designation “anyone.”

We have discussed this at considerable length in our treatment of the rational and scriptural arguments advanced by those who deny the divine attributes—the Jahmiyyah and their followers—in our book entitled Bayān Talbīs al-Jahmiyyah fī Ta’sīs Bida‘ihim al-Kalāmiyyah (Exposing the Jahmiyyah’s Deception in Establishing Their Innovations in Speculative Theology).

Thus, when the Jahmiyyah invoked the name al-Wāhid (the One) to argue before the early generations—including Imam Ahmad and others—for denying the divine attributes, Ahmad said:

“They said, ‘You will never affirm Allah’s oneness until you say: Allah existed, and nothing else existed.’ We replied, ‘We do say that Allah existed and nothing else existed. But when we say that Allah has always possessed all His attributes, are we not describing one God?’

“We offered them an illustration, saying: ‘Tell us about this date palm: does it not have a trunk, frond bases, fibre, fronds, leaflets, and a palm heart? Yet it is designated as one thing and called a date palm with all its attributes. Likewise Allah—to whom belongs the highest description—is, with all His attributes, one God. We do not say that there was ever a time when He had no power, until He created power for Himself. Nor do we say that there was ever a time when He did not know, until