There are verses in the Holy Quran that affirm the attributes of Allah Almighty, such as power, knowledge, will, and every name of Allah that indicates His attributes. The Sahaba and those who came after them believed in these attributes without questioning their origin, truth, or nature. This assertion is based on the following reasoning: there is no record—whether true or false—of any Sahaba of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), despite their differing ranks and large numbers, asking him about the meaning of any attribute that Allah has described Himself with in His Book or through the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Rather, they all understood the meanings of these attributes and remained silent about them.
When the Salaf did not discuss the attributes among themselves and did not express any opinions on them, where then did the problem originate? The first person to address the attributes in Islam was Jahd ibn Dirham, who denied these attributes and held the belief in the creation of the Quran. Following the Jahmiyyah, the emergence of the Mu’tazilah was marked by their adoption of some of the Jahmiyyah’s positions, particularly the denial of attributes.
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote about the Jahmiyyah: “The Jahmiyyah are those who deny the attributes of Allah Almighty; they claim that [Allah Almighty] is neither inside the world nor outside it, nor above anything nor below it.” He further states: “All followers of innovation, such as the Khawarij, Shia, Qadariyyah, Rafizah, Murji’ah, etc., cling to the texts to express their beliefs, except the Jahmiyyah, who do not possess a single statement from the prophets that supports their belief in negation or harmony. For this reason, Ibn Mubarak and Yusuf ibn Asbat, may Allah have mercy on them, state that the Jahmiyyah are outside the seventy-three sects.”
One of the most significant beliefs of the Jahmiyyah is that it is incorrect to describe Allah Almighty with the attributes that His creatures possess, as this would lead to likening Allah to His servants. Consequently, this group does not recognize Allah Almighty as characterized by attributes such as life and knowledge, although they affirm attributes like power, action, and creativity for Allah Almighty, since none of His servants possesses these attributes.
The Jahmiyyah were the first to initiate “Tahtil” (the denial of Allah’s attributes). They considered the names and attributes of Allah Almighty to be null and void, asserting that Allah is neither hearing nor seeing and lacks the attributes of hearing and sight. They viewed Allah Almighty as an abstract essence, devoid of any names or attributes.
