the created things of Paradise, so that the pleasure accompanying the vision would arise from that created thing (1).”

Ibn ‘Aqīl heard a man say:

“I ask You for the delight of gazing upon Your Face.”

He replied:

“Suppose He does have a face—would you take pleasure in gazing upon it?!”

This and similar statements were among the things for which Ibn ‘Aqīl was criticized. He was a learned and intelligent man, but his views on these matters fluctuated. Consequently, many passages in his writings accord with the position of the Mu‘tazila and the Jahmiyya, and this is one such instance.

Abū al-Ma‘ālī likewise based this position on a principle of the Jahmiyya in which al-Ash‘arī and those who followed him agreed with them, including Qadi Abū Bakr, Qadi Abū Ya‘lā, and others: namely, that Allah does not love Himself. They claim that their dispute on this matter is with the Sufis.

This doctrine is a remnant of the teachings of Jahm ibn Safwān. The earliest figures known in Islam to have denied that Allah loves or is loved were Jahm ibn Safwān and his teacher, al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham. They were likewise the earliest known to have denied the reality of Allah speaking to Moses and others. Jahm denied the attributes and the names; then some (2) of this passed to the Mu‘tazila and others, who denied the attributes but not the names.

This is not the position of any of the early generations of the Muslim community or its imams (3). Rather, they all agree that Allah deserves to be loved and that nothing is more deserving of love than Allah—glorified is He. Indeed, nothing besides Him should be loved except for His sake. Whatever a believer enjoys—food, drink, clothing, or anything else—he should make use of only to aid him in worshipping Him