Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (2/604-629) and (3/3-49):
Abu Sa‘id ‘Uthman bin Sa‘id al-Darimi said in his book titled: Naqd ‘Uthman bin Sa‘id ‘ala al-Marisi al-Jahmi al-‘Anid, fima Iftara ‘ala Allah Ta‘ala fi al-Tawhid (The Refutation of ‘Uthman bin Sa‘id against al-Marisi, the Obstinate Jahmi, regarding what he fabricated against Allah the Exalted concerning Monotheism), in which he stated:
(Chapter on the Limit and the Throne)
The opponent also claimed: “That He has no limit (hadd), no extreme (ghayah), and no end (nihayah).”
He [al-Darimi] said: This is the principle upon which Jahm built all of his misguidance and from which he derived his fallacies. It is a statement that we have not heard anyone in the world preceding Jahm in making.
A speaker from among those debating him said to him: “I have understood your intention, O non-Arab (A‘jami); you mean that Allah the Exalted is nothing (la shay’). This is because all of creation knows that there is nothing to which the name ‘thing’ applies except that it has a limit, an end, and an attribute, and that ‘nothingness’ has no limit, no end, and no attribute. A thing is always and inevitably described, and nothing is described without a limit or an end. Your statement: ‘He has no limit’ means that He is nothing.”
Abu Sa‘id said: Allah the Exalted has a limit that none knows but He. It is not permissible for anyone to imagine an end for His limit within themselves; rather, we believe in the limit and we entrust the knowledge of that to Allah the Exalted. His place also has a limit, and He is upon His Throne above His heavens; thus, these are two limits.
He [al-Darimi] said: And Ibn al-Mubarak was asked: “By what do we recognize our Lord?”
قال شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله في «بيان تلبيس الجهمية» (٢/ ٦٠٤- ٦٢٩)، و (٣/ ٣- ٤٩):
قال أبو سعيد عثمان بن سعيد الدَّارميُّ في كتابه الذي سماه: «نقض عثمان بن سعيد على المريسي الجهمي العنيد، فيما افترى على الله تعالى في التوحيد» قال فيه:
(باب الحدِّ والعرش)
وادَّعى المعارض أيضًا: (أنه ليس له حدٌّ، ولا غايةٌ، ولا نهايةٌ).
قال: وهذا الأصل الذي بنى عليه جَهمٌ جميعَ ضلالاته، واشتقَّ منه أغلوطاته.
وهي كلمةٌ لم يبلغنا أنه سَبَقَ جهمًا إليها أحدٌ من العالمين.
فقال له قائل ممن يحاوره: قد علمتُ مُرادكَ أيُّها الأعجمي؛ تعني: أن الله تعالى لا شيء؛ لأن الخلق كلَّهم عَلِموا أنه ليس شيءٌ يقع عليه اسم الشيء إلَّا وله حدٌّ، وغايةٌ، وصفةٌ، وأن لا شيء ليس له حدٌّ، ولا غاية، ولا صِفة.
فالشيء أبدًا موصوفٌ لا محالة، ولا شيء يوصف بلا حدٍّ، ولا غايةٍ، وقولك: (لا حد له)
تعني: أنه لا شيء.
قال أبو سعيد: والله تعالى له حدٌّ لا يعلمه غيره، ولا يجوز لأحدٍ أن يتوهم لحدِّهِ غاية في نفسه؛ ولكن نؤمن بالحدِّ ونَكِلُ عِلْمَ ذلك إلى الله تعالى، ولمكانه أيضًا حدٌّ، وهو على عرشِهِ فَوْقَ سَمواته، فهذان حدَّان اثنان.
قال: وسُئِلَ ابن المبارك: بِمَ نَعرفُ رَبَّنا؟
