Imam Ahmad said in the introduction to the work he composed while imprisoned (1), refuting the heretics and the Jahmiyya regarding the ambiguous passages of the Quran that they called into doubt and improperly interpreted. He said (2):

“Praise be to Allah, who has left in every age devoid of messengers a remnant of the people of knowledge. They call those who have gone astray to guidance and patiently endure the harm they suffer at their hands. Through the Book of Allah, they bring the dead to life (3), and by the light of Allah, they enable those engulfed in misguidance and blindness to see (4). How many whom Iblis had slain have they revived, and how many a lost wanderer (5) have they indeed (6) guided! How excellent is their effect upon people, and how appalling is the effect (7) people have upon them!

“They ward off from the Book of Allah the distortions of extremists, the claims falsely ascribed to it by proponents of falsehood, and the misinterpretations of the ignorant, who have raised the banners of innovation and given free rein (8) to tribulation. They differ over the Book, oppose the Book, yet agree (9) on departing from the Book. (* They attribute things to Allah and speak about Allah and the Book of Allah without knowledge *) (10). They use ambiguous language and deceive the ignorant among the people through the confusion (11) they create for them.”