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Jahm replied, “Yes.”
They asked him, “Have you seen your God?”
He said, “No.”
They said, “Have you heard His speech?”
He said, “No.”
They asked, “Have you caught His scent?”
He said, “No.”
They said, “Have you sensed Him in any way?”
He said, “No.”
They asked, “Have you found Him to possess any physical substance?”
He said, “No.”
They concluded, “In that case, how do you know that He is a god?⦗1⦘”
The narrator said: Jahm was left so bewildered that for forty days he did not know whom he was worshipping.⦗2⦘ Then he
(1) This debate is cited by Ibn Taymiyya, may Allah grant him mercy, in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (1/318–319; 2/53–54; 2/350–351) and in Darʾ Taʿarud al-ʿAql wa-l-Naql (2/410). It is also transmitted with its chain by Ibn Battah in al-Ibanah from Muqatil ibn Sulayman (2/86–89, no. 317), by al-Lalikai from Khalaf ibn Sulayman al-Balkhi (3/380, nos. 634–635), and quoted by Ibn al-Qayyim in Ijtimaʿ al-Juyush al-Islamiyyah, pp. 206–207.
(2) Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, reports: “Damrah related from Ibn Shawdhub that Jahm abandoned the prayer for forty days out of doubt; a member of the Samaniyyah debated him, so he wavered and remained forty days without praying.” …
قال الجهم:
نعم.
فقالوا له:
فهل رأيت إلهك!.
قال:
لا.
قالوا:
فهل سمعت كلامه؟
قال:
لا.
قالوا:
فشممت له رائحة؟
قال:
لا.
قالوا:
فوجدت له حسًّا؟
قال:
لا.
قالوا:
فوجدت له مجسًّا؟
قال:
لا.
قالوا:
فما يدريك أنه إله؟ ١.
قال:
فتحير الجهم فلم يدرِ من يعبد أربعين يومًا٢. ثم إنه
١ ذكر هذه المناظرة ابن تيمية -رحمه الله- في بيان تلبيس الجهمية "٣١٨/١، ٣١٩" "٥٣/٢، ٥٤" "٣٥٠/٢، ٣٥١" وفي درء تعارض العقل والنقل "٤١٠/٢" وأخرجها بسنده ابن بطة في الإبانة عن مقاتل بن سليمان "٨٦/٢-٨٩ رقم: ٣١٧" واللالكائي عن خلف بن سليمان البلخي "٣٨٠/٣ رقم: ٦٣٤، ٦٣٥". وابن القيم في اجتماع الجيوش الإسلامية "ص: ٢٠٦، ٢٠٧".
١ قال البخاري رحمه الله: وقال ضمرة عن ابن شوذب: ترك الجهم الصلاة أربعين يومًا على وجه الشك، فخاصمه بعض السمنية، فشك، فأقام أربعين يومًا لا يصلي. قال =