that are mutually opposed. Rather, the true implication of their position is that the Lord cannot be characterized by action, for they identify the action with the created thing, and the Creator cannot be characterized by a created thing. If the action—which, in their view, is the thing acted upon—were an attribute of His, then all created things would be attributes of the Lord. No rational person would say this, let alone a Muslim] (1).

If you say, “This is based on the premise that Allah’s action does not subsist in Him, because if it did, originated events would subsist in Him,” it is said in reply: The majority dispute this premise of yours. They say: “How can an action that does not subsist in an agent even be conceived, when we clearly understand the distinction between the act of creating and bringing into being itself (2), and the created thing that is brought into being?”

This is the position of the majority, including the companions of Abū Hanīfa. It is also the position that al-Baghawī (3) and other companions of al-Shāfi'ī related from Ahl al-Sunnah. It is the position of the leading authorities among the companions of Ahmad, such as Abū Ishāq ibn Shāqlā (4), Abū Bakr Abd al-Azīz (5), and Abū Abd Allah ibn Hāmid (6), [as well as al-Qādī Abū Ya'lā in the latter of his two positions] (7). [It is] also the position (8) of the leading Sufis and the leading authorities among the people of hadith, [and this was related by