his own existence, so absorbed in the One he witnesses that he loses awareness of his own witnessing, and so absorbed in the One he knows that he loses awareness of his own knowledge. He enters a state of self-effacement in contemplating Allah’s oneness in His lordship, such that the one who once did not exist fades from awareness, while the One who has always existed remains. In their view, this is the ultimate goal, beyond which there is no further goal. Yet it is well known that this merely realizes the oneness that the polytheists acknowledged. This affirmation of oneness alone does not make a person a Muslim, let alone a close friend of Allah or one of His foremost close friends.

One group among those devoted to Sufism and spiritual knowledge affirms this oneness while also affirming the divine attributes. They experience self-effacement in contemplating Allah’s oneness in His lordship, while affirming that the world has a Creator who is distinct from His creation. Others combine this with the denial of the divine attributes, thus also falling into the negation of Allah’s attributes. This is worse than the condition of many polytheists.

Jahm denied the divine attributes and held that human actions are compelled. Thus, this is the realization of Jahm’s doctrine. However, if he affirms commands and prohibitions, reward and punishment, he differs from the polytheists in this respect. Yet Jahm and his followers exclude deeds from faith, so commands and prohibitions, reward and punishment carry less weight in his doctrine.

The Najjāriyya, the Dirāriyya, and others are close to Jahm in matters of divine decree and faith, while also approaching his position in denying the divine attributes.