in His entirety, sight; in His entirety, light; in His entirety, power. Nothing within Him consists of two entities, nor can He be described by two contradictory qualities. He has no above or below, no quarters or sides, no right and no left. He is neither light (in weight) nor heavy, has no color and no body. He is neither known nor comprehended, and whatever crosses your mind as something familiar—you can be sure He is the very opposite of it.1
Ahmad said, “So we asserted, ‘He is a thing.’ They replied, ‘He is a thing unlike other things.’ We retorted, ‘A “thing” that is unlike things—people of sound reason recognize that such a thing is, in reality, nothing at all.’ It thus became clear to the people that they believe in nothing; they merely ward off public reproach with the slogans they proclaim openly.2
(1) Ibn Taymiyya states in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya, 1/315: “This is what the founder and his followers mean when they say that He is contrary to sensory perception, imagination, or reason, as mentioned earlier.” He then proceeds to cite Imam Ahmad’s words, commenting on them, clarifying, refuting, and rebutting the Jahmiyya.
(2) Ibn Taymiyya—may Allah have mercy on him—adds in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya, 2/352: He explained that describing God as imperceptible to any of the senses is the root of their discourse, which necessarily entails complete negation, for whatever is not thus perceptible cannot truly be something. This truth is firmly embedded in the believers’ innate disposition: they never doubt that Allah is capable of showing them His very Self; their only question is whether or not this will actually occur. Hence the believers asked the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—“Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?” He replied, “Yes. Do you have any difficulty in seeing the sun?” This is established by numerous sound, well-known, mutawatir hadiths. Therefore, their uncertainty concerned only whether they would in fact see their Lord; they were not…