And He, Blessed and Exalted, said: {There is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence} [Al-Baqara: 255] {There is no deity except Him, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior} [Al-Ḥashr: 23]
These are the attributes of God, Mighty and Majestic, and His names, Blessed and Exalted.
So this speech from the Imam Abū ʿAbdullāh Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him, clarifies that he denied that the servants delimit God Almighty or His attributes with Al-Ḥadd, or estimate that with an estimation, or that they reach the point of describing that. And that does not contradict what preceded regarding the affirmation that He, in Himself, has Al-Ḥadd that He knows and no one else knows, or that He describes Himself.
And likewise is the speech of the rest of the Imams of the Predecessors (Salaf); they affirm the realities and deny the servants' knowledge of their true nature, as we have mentioned from their speech in other than this place what clarifies that.
And the companions of Imam Aḥmad:
1 - Among them are those who thought that these two statements contradict each other, so two narrations were reported from him regarding the affirmation of Al-Ḥadd for God Almighty, and this is the method of "the two narrations and the two views."
2 - And among them are those who denied Al-Ḥadd from His essence, Almighty, and denied the servants' knowledge of it, as he thought it was the implication of what Ḥanbal transmitted, and he interpreted what al-Marrūdhī, al-Athram, Abū Dāwūd, and others transmitted regarding the affirmation of Al-Ḥadd for Him to mean that the intent is the affirmation of Al-Ḥadd for the Throne.
3 - And among them are those who established the matter as the two statements indicate, or interpreted the denial of Al-Ḥadd with another meaning.
وقال تبارك وتعالى: ﴿لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ﴾ [البقرة:٢٥٥]
﴿لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ﴾ [الحشر:٢٣]
هذه صفات الله عز وجل وأسماؤه تبارك وتعالى.
فهذا الكلام من الإمام أبي عبد الله أحمد رحمه الله يُبيّن أنه نفى أن العباد يحدُّون اللهَ تعالى، أو صفاته بحدٍّ، أو يُقدِّرون ذلك بقدرٍ، أو أن يبلغوا إلى أن يصفوا ذلك، وذلك لا يُنافي ما تقدّم من إثبات أنه في نفسه له حدٌّ يعلمه هو لا يعلمه غيره، أو أنه هو يصف نفسه.
وهكذا كلام سائر أئمة السَّلف يُثبتون الحقائق وينفون علم العباد بكُنْهِها كما ذكرْنا من كلامهم في غير هذا الموضع ما يبين ذلك.
وأصحاب الإمام أحمد:
١ - منهم من ظنَّ أن هذين الكلامين يتناقضان، فحُكي عنه في إثبات الحدِّ لله تعالى روايتين، وهذه طريقة «الرّوايتين والوجهين».
٢ - ومنهم من نفى الحد عن ذاته تعالى ونفى علم العباد به، كما ظنه موجب ما نقله حنبل، وتأوَّل ما نقله المرُّوذي، والأثرم، وأبو داود، وغيرهم من إثبات الحدّ له على أن المراد إثبات حدٍّ للعرش.
٣ - ومنهم من قرَّر الأمر كما يدلُّ عليه الكلامان، أو تأوَّل نفي الحدِّ بمعنى آخر.
