Al-Rad 'ala al-Jahmiya - Ahmad Ibn Hanbal - (140)

The Jahmites retorted:

“When you ascribe such attributes to Allah—if you maintain, ‘Allah and His light,’ ‘Allah and His power,’ ‘Allah and His majesty’—then you are echoing the Christians, for they claim that Allah has always been together with His light and that His power has likewise always existed.”

We replied:

“We do not say that Allah has always existed and, alongside Him, His power; nor that He has always existed and, alongside Him, His light. Rather, we say: He has never ceased to exist with His power and His light; no ‘when’ qualifies His decree, nor any ‘how’ defines it.”

They insisted:

“You will never be true monotheists until you say: ‘There was Allah and nothing else.’”

We responded:

“We do indeed say: ‘There was Allah and nothing else.’ Yet when we affirm that Allah has eternally existed with all of His attributes, are we not describing a single divinity endowed with all of His perfections?”

To clarify, we offered them an analogy:

“Tell us about this date-palm. Does it not have a trunk, a crown-shaft, fibres, fronds, leaflets, and a central pith? Nevertheless, it bears one single name and is called a ‘palm tree’ in virtue of all of those parts.1 In the same way—and to Allah belongs the highest comparison—He is one God together with all of His attributes.

“We do not say that there was ever a moment when He lacked power and then created power for Himself—for one who lacks power is impotent. Nor do we say that there was ever a moment when He did not know until He created knowledge for Himself and thereby became knowing. Whoever does not know…"

They claimed to rely on both the revealed texts and rational proofs, yet their ways multiplied and they ended up diverging within the Book and opposing the Book itself. Allah says: “Indeed, those who dispute about the Scripture are in far-reaching discord” (Q 2:176). (1) Ibn Battah, al-Ibana, vol. 2, p. 175.

فقالت الجهمية: لما وصفنا الله بهذه الصفات: إن زعمتم أن الله ونوره، والله وقدرته، والله وعظمته، فقد قلتم بقول النصارى حين زعموا، أن الله لم يزل ونوره، ولم يزل وقدرته. قلنا: لا نقول: إن الله لم يزل وقدرته، ولم يزل ونوره، ولكن نقول: لم يزل بقدرته ونوره، لا متى قدَّر، ولا كيف قدر. فقالوا: لا تكونون موحدين أبدًا حتى تقولوا: قد كان الله ولا شيء. فقلنا: نحن نقول: قد كان الله ولا شيء. ولكن إذا قلنا: إن الله لم يزل بصفاته كلها، أليس إنما نصف إلَهًا واحدًا بجميع صفته؟ وضربنا لهم في ذلك مثلا. فقلنا: أخبرونا عن هذه النخلة؟ أليس لها جذع وكرب، وليف وسعف وخوص وجَمّار؟.. واسمها اسم شيء واحد، وسميت نخلة بجميع صفاتها١ فكذلك الله، وله المثل الأعلى بجميع صفاته إله واحد، لا نقول: إنه قد كان في وقت من الأوقات. ولا يقدر حتى خلق له قدرة، والذي ليس له قدرة هو عاجز، ولا نقول: قد كان في وقت من الأوقات ولا يعلم حتى خلق له علمًا فعلم. والذي لا يعلم

= المنصوص والمعقول فتشعبت بهم الطرق، وصاروا مختلفين في الكتاب مخالفين للكتاب، وقد قال تعالى: {وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِي الْكِتَابِ لَفِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ} [البقرة: ١٧٦] . ١ ذكره ابن بطة في الإبانة "١٧٥/٢".