the very same school among them, such as the school of Ahmad and those of the other imams (1)—then those among Ahl al-Sunnah who say that nothing is obligatory upon Allah and nothing is forbidden to Him regard it as impossible for Him to fail to fulfill an obligation or to commit a reprehensible act. Those who say that He has imposed obligations upon Himself or forbidden things to Himself all agree that He does not fail to fulfill what He has prescribed for Himself, nor (2) does He do what He has forbidden to Himself.

It is thus clear that no one among Ahl al-Sunnah says that He fails to fulfill an obligation or commits a reprehensible act. Yet this innovator (3), following the method of his peers, reported (4) that Ahl al-Sunnah deem it possible for Him [Most High] (5) to fail to fulfill an obligation and to commit reprehensible acts.

He attributed this to one of the two groups by presenting it as a necessary implication of their position. They say, “Nothing is obligatory upon Him,” from which he inferred that He may therefore fail to fulfill anything whatsoever. He accordingly said, “These people say: (6 He fails to fulfill what is obligatory—that is, what I regard as obligatory. Likewise, these people say 6) (6): Nothing He does is reprehensible.” He then said that they deem it possible for Him to commit what is reprehensible, (7 meaning: to do what is reprehensible according to them 7) (7), or to perform an act that would be reprehensible if performed by His servants. Thus, he attributed this position to them by way of an implication that they believed to follow (8).