350—Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah informed us: Uthman ibn Ahmad narrated to us: Al-Hasan ibn Abd al-Wahhab narrated to us: Abu Bakr ibn Hammad narrated to me, saying: I heard Khalaf ibn Hisham regarding one who says, “The name is other than that which is named.” He vehemently denounced this statement and said: “If a man were to insult another man, then according to the view of those who make this claim, nothing would be due from him, for he could say, ‘I only insulted the name.’ Likewise, if a man were to swear by Allah concerning another man’s property, then, according to the view of those who make this claim, he would not be considered to have broken his oath; he could say, ‘I swore only by the name; I did not swear by that which is named.’

Do you not see that the whole affair of Islam revolves around this name? The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say ⦗239⦘: ‘There is no god but Allah.’” Do you not see that when a person begins ablution, he says, ‘In the name of Allah,’ and when he finishes, he says, ‘Glory be to You, O Allah’? Do you not see that the call to prayer begins with, ‘Allah is the Greatest,’ and continually repeats, ‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah’? Then consider the prayer: when one begins it with the words, ‘Allah is the Greatest,’ he continues in this manner until he concludes with, ‘Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you.’ Thus, its beginning and its end are Allah. Do you not see the pilgrimage: ‘Here I am, O Allah, here I am’? Do you not see the sacrificial animal: ‘In the name of Allah’? Do you not see that the whole affair of Islam revolves around this name?

Whoever claims that the names of Allah are created is a disbeliever, and his disbelief is clearer to me than this sun.”