as it is related that Hammād ibn Zayd said: ‘The Jahmiyyah are like people who said, “There is a date palm at our house.” They were asked, “Does it have fronds?” They said, “No.” They were asked, “Then does it have frond bases?” They said, “No.” They were asked, “Does it have ripe dates and fruit clusters?” They said, “No.” They were asked, “Then does it have a trunk?” They said, “No.” They were told, “Then there is no date palm at your house.”’
I [al-Dhahabī] say: These deniers of the attributes have likewise said, ‘Our God is Allah Most High. He is neither in time nor in any place. He is not seen, nor does He hear, see, or speak. He is neither pleased nor angry, nor does He will, nor …, nor …’ They have also said, ‘Glory be to the One who is free of attributes!’
Rather, we say: Glory be to Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the One who wills; who truly spoke to Moses, took Abraham as a close friend, and will be seen in the Hereafter; who possesses the attributes with which He has described Himself and His messengers have described Him; and who is far above the characteristics of created beings and the denials of those who deny Him.
‘There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.’ 1”2 End quote.
- At the end of his book, the writer listed his published works and those still in manuscript. The total he mentioned came to “fifty-three books.” After listing them, he said: “There are also works and treatises that are not yet complete. We shall mention their titles in forthcoming publications, if Allah Most High wills.”
I say: If indeed these books follow the same pattern as this book and rest on the same foundations of lying, dishonesty, deception, falsification, speaking without knowledge, injustice, oppression, denying others their due, and pretensions to learning—and I believe they do, for “every vessel pours out what it contains” and “everyone spends from what he has”—then how dreadful is the writer’s calamity, and how great his ordeal!