Jarir ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid (d. 188 AH)—may Allah have mercy on him—said: "The speech of the Jahmiyyah is honey at its beginning but poison at its end. They are only attempting to say: There is no God in the heaven." [Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim, as in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (1/200)].
They did not state this explicitly due to the strength and influence of the imams of the Sunnah during their time. Thus, they resorted to denying the logical implications of High-Exaltation (‘uluww), such as the limit (al-hadd) and distinction (al-baynunah), and to denying the rest of the attributes—such as [the Divine] Vision, Speech, Hearing, and Sight—to avoid being exposed before both the commoners and the elite for their denial of Allah’s High-Exaltation, which is an affirmation Allah the Exalted has naturally embedded in human nature (fatar al-nas ‘ala ithbatihi).
When the influence of the people of innovation grew stronger, their later proponents explicitly stated what their predecessors had not. They denied Allah’s High-Exaltation over His creation, authored works to that effect, and openly proclaimed the negation of ‘uluww. Indeed, the matter escalated for some of them to the point of declaring as disbelievers (takfir) those who affirm the High-Exaltation of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, over His creation, labeling them with the most repulsive descriptions.
Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—said: "That which the [early] Jahmiyyah were attempting to achieve has been explicitly stated by their later followers. The prevalence of the Sunnah and the abundance of imams during the era of the former prevented them from declaring it openly. But when time passed, the Sunnah became obscure, and the imams passed away, the negating Jahmiyyah explicitly declared what their predecessors had attempted but were unable to manifest." [Ijtima‘ al-Juyush al-Islamiyyah (p. 71)].
I say: The matter for them was not limited merely to explicitly denying the High-Exaltation of Allah the Exalted over His creation; rather, it extended to declaring anyone who believes in it to be a disbeliever, and refusing to accept the conversion to Islam of any Jew who affirms Allah’s High-Exaltation, on the grounds that he is a corporealist (mujassim) disbeliever!
- وقال جرير بن عبد الحميد (١٨٨هـ) رحمه الله: كلام الجهميـة أولـه عسل، وآخره سُمٌّ، وإنما يحاولون أن يقولوا: ليس في السماء إله.
[رواه ابن أبي حاتم كما في «بيان تلبيس الجهمية» (٢٠٠/١)].
فهم لـم يصرحوا بذلك لقوة شوكة أئمة السنة في وقتهم، فلجؤوا إلى نفي ما يستلزم العلو من الحد والبينونة وغيرها، وإلى نفي باقي الصفات كالرؤية والكلام والسمع والبصر وغيرها حتى لا يفتضحوا عند العامة والخاصة بنفي علو الله تعالى الذي فطر الله تعالى الناس على إثباته.
ولما قويت شوكة أهل البدع صرَّح المتأخرون منهم بما لم يـصرح بـه متقدموهم، فنفوا علو الله تعالى على خلقه، وصنفوا في ذلك المصنفات، وأظهروا نفي العلو، بل وتعدى الأمر عند بعضهم إلى تكفير من أثبـت علو الله عز وجل على خلقه ووصفه بأقبح الأوصاف!!
قال ابن تيمية رحمه الله: وهذا الذي كانت الجهمية يحاولونه قد صرَّح به المتأخرون منهم، وكان ظهور السنة وكثرة الأئمة في عصر أولئـك يَحُولُ بيـنهم وبـين التـصريح بـه، فلـما بعـد العهـد، وخفيـت الـسنة، وانقرضت الأئمة؛ صرَّحت الجهمية النفاة بما كان سلفهم يحاولونه ولا يتمكنون من إظهاره. [«اجتماع الجيوش الإسلامية» (ص ٧١)].
قلت: ولـم يقتصر الأمر عندهم على التصريح بنفي علـو الله تعـالى على خلقه فحسب بل تعدى إلى تكفير من اعتقـد ذلـك وعدم قبـول إسلام من أسلم من اليهود وهو يثبت علو الله تعالى لأنه مُجَسِّم كافر!
