wear themselves out—mind, strength, and thought—contorting His words, wrenching them from their proper places, interpreting them in ways He never intended; that they must hunt for forced possibilities and strained explanations which resemble riddles and puzzles far more than clarity and disclosure; and that, when it comes to knowing His names and attributes, He has referred them to their own intellects and opinions rather than to His Book. Nay, according to this notion He even wants them to refrain from construing His speech according to the conventions of their own language and discourse, despite His power to state the required truth plainly and spare them expressions that plunge them into false belief. Yet He did not do so—rather, He allegedly led them down a path opposite to guidance and elucidation. Whoever holds such a notion has indeed entertained an evil suspicion of Him.
For if he claims that Allah is incapable of expressing the truth in the explicit words used by Himself and by His early followers, he is imputing incapacity to His power. And if he claims that Allah is able to do so yet chose not to clarify, opting instead for wording that merely suggests—or even leads directly to—impossible falsehoods and corrupt beliefs, he is thinking ill of His wisdom and mercy.
Likewise, whoever imagines that he and his scholastic predecessors have articulated the truth in explicit terms whereas Allah and His Messenger have not; that guidance and truth reside in their words, while the apparent sense of Allah’s words conveys nothing but anthropomorphism, similitude, and misguidance; and that the outward statements of idolaters and the confused embody guidance and truth—such a person holds one of the most reprehensible suspicions.
All these are people who think evil of Allah, “thinking about Allah other than the truth—thoughts of the Age of Ignorance.” Here ends Ibn al-Qayyim’s discussion of those who entertain false notions about Allah. Whoever wishes to see it in full should consult Zad al-Maʿad. Allah’s help is sought.
- Mocking anything that contains mention of Allah
A Muslim is obliged to revere the Book of Allah, the sunnah of His Messenger, and the scholars of the Muslims, and to know the ruling concerning one who mocks the remembrance of Allah, the Quran, or the Messenger, so that he may beware of falling into it. For whoever scoffs at the remembrance of Allah, or the Quran, or the Messenger, or at any of