among the followers of Abū Hanīfa, Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, or Ahmad ibn Hanbal—neither among the adherents of hadith nor among the advocates of juristic reasoning. No one among these groups (1) is known to have said that Allah is a body that is long, broad, and deep; that it is possible to shake hands with Him; or that the righteous among the Muslims (2) see Him directly in this world (3). If (4) by “the Hashwiyya and those who liken Allah to His creation” he means some of these people, then that (5) is a manifest lie against them. The books of these groups and the accounts of their members, both living and dead, are available, yet nothing of this kind is known from (6) any one of them. Rather, the leading authorities of these groups who are renowned among them for their learning unanimously agree that Allah is not seen with the eyes in this world, but is seen only in the Hereafter. This is authentically established from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—who said:
“Know that none of you will see his Lord until he dies.” (7)
The widespread and openly professed doctrine among them is the doctrine of the adherents of the Sunnah and the Community: that Allah
(1) (ʿ) reads: “nor are these [people] known”; (B) and (A) read: “thus no one among these [groups] is known…”
(2) (ʿ) reads: “the reformers among the believers.”
(3) “In this world” is omitted in (B) and (A).
(4) (ʿ) reads: “and if.”
(5) (N) and (M) read: “then this.”
(6) (B) alone reads: “from.”
(7) The hadith was narrated by Muslim, 4/2245 (Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Hour, chapter: Mention of Ibn Sayyād), with the following wording: “Ibn Shihāb said: ʿUmar ibn Thābit al-Ansārī informed me that one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—informed him that, on the day the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—warned the people about the Dajjāl, he said that ‘unbeliever’ would be written between his eyes. Anyone who detested his deeds—or every believer—would be able to read it.” He also said: “Know that none of you will see his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, until he dies.” The hadith also appears in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 3/345 (Book of Tribulations, chapter: Reports Concerning the Dajjāl), where it reads: “You know that none of you will see…” to the end of the hadith. Al-Dārimī narrated the hadith in his *al-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyya* (*Refutation of the Jahmiyya*), p. [0–9]1, where it reads: “You know that none of you will see his Lord until he dies.” A statement with the same meaning also occurs in another lengthy hadith narrated from Umāma al-Bāhilī—may Allah be pleased with him—in which it states (*Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 2/36, Book of Tribulations, chapter: The Tribulation of the Dajjāl): “He will begin by saying, ‘I am a prophet, and there is no prophet after me.’ He will then follow this by saying, ‘I am your Lord, but you will not see your Lord until you die…’” to the end of the hadith.