—indeed, some go so far as to deny that Imām Aḥmad ever wrote any work besides the Musnad. Such a sweeping claim is questionable, for they base it on the assertion that he used to forbid the writing of books.

I respond: Yes, at the outset he did discourage the authoring of books, as well as sitting with the people of innovation and engaging them in debate. But that was in the early days; once circumstances changed and falsehood sheltered itself behind the decree of the ruler, it became imperative to confront, repel, and nullify that falsehood.

Al-Dārimī, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “When the Jahmites began to delve into this matter, publicized it, and alleged that the speech of Allah is created, Ibn al-Mubārak rejected their claim and maintained that it is uncreated, for whoever says that the divine words ‘Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity but Me’ are created is a disbeliever. Yahyā al-Ḥammānī related this to me from al-Ḥasan b. al-Rabīʿ from Ibn al-Mubārak. Ibn al-Mubārak disliked repeating their remarks while they were still secret, but once they proclaimed them he denounced and censured them.”

Ibn Ḥanbal likewise said, “We used to think it best to remain silent about this issue before those people began to broach it; but when they made it public, we could no longer avoid opposing them and responding to them.”1

As for the treatise Refutation of the Jahmites and Heretics, the work under discussion, I say: it is a favor from Allah upon me that He enabled me to work on this treatise.