with none like Him, and One in His acts, with no partner”1.

What Shaykh al-Islām reports about them is indeed found in their books. Al-Shahrastānī says: “As for tawhīd, Ahl al-Sunnah and all those who affirm the divine attributes have said: Allah Most High is One in His essence, without division; One in His eternal attributes, with none comparable to Him; and One in His acts, with no partner”2.

Observe how he presents these matters as the full extent of tawhīd. This is characteristic of the speculative theologians: they propound corrupt beliefs and worthless opinions, then claim that these represent the truth and the Sunnah. By Ahl al-Sunnah, he means the Ashʿarīs, for not one of the true adherents of the Sunnah—those most deserving of that name—ever uttered these words.

Al-Bayjūrī, one of the speculative theologians, said: “He Most High is necessarily one in His essence, His attributes, and His acts. Oneness in essence means that His essence is not composed of multiple parts. Oneness in attributes means that He Most High does not possess two or more attributes of the same kind, such as two powers, and so forth, and that no one else has an attribute resembling His. Oneness in acts means that no one other than Him performs any act whatsoever. The opposite of oneness is multiplicity”3.

Furthermore, the classification adopted by these people entails many false notions. This is not the place to explain them, but they include, by way of example, the following: