Uthman al-Darimi (may Allah have mercy upon him) stated in al-Naqd (pp. 310–312): "Those of these masters who disliked engaging [in such theological disputes]—if your report from them is authentic—did so only because none engaged in them except a small, debased faction in secret conversations among themselves, while the common folk remained holding fast to the primary Sunnahs and the original way.
Thus, those people disliked engaging in it since it was not being discussed publicly. They were correct in refraining from engaging in it as long as it was not proclaimed. However, when they [the Jahmiyyah] proclaimed it through the power of the sovereign, and summoned the common people to it with swords and whips, and claimed that the speech of Allah is created, those scholars who had passed and the jurists who remained denounced that. They deemed them liars, declared them disbelievers, warned the people against their affair, and explained their [true] intent behind it. Consequently, this was—on the part of the Jahmiyyah—an engagement in what they had been forbidden from; and—on the part of our companions—a denunciation of manifest disbelief, a defense (munafahah) of Allah so that He would not be reviled and His attributes would not be negated (tu‘attala), and a protection of the weak among the people so that they would not go astray through this trial (mihnah) without knowing its counter-arguments—those proofs that refute their claim and invalidate their arguments.
Indeed, ‘Ali ibn Khashram wrote to me that he heard ‘Isa ibn Yunus say: 'Do not sit with the Jahmiyyah, and clarify their affair to the people so that they may recognize them and thus be wary of them.'
And Ibn al-Mubarak said: 'That I should relate the speech of the Jews and the Christians is more beloved to me than relating the speech of the Jahmiyyah.'
So when the Jahmiyyah engaged in some of it and publicized it, and claimed that the speech of Allah is created, Ibn al-Mubarak denounced that and asserted that it is uncreated, and that whoever says: 'I...
- قال عثمان الدارمي رَحِمَهُ اللهُ في «النقض» (ص٣١٠-٣١٢): إنَّما كَرِهَ مَن كَرِهَ الخوضَ من هؤلاء المشايخ - إن صحَّت عنهم روايتك - لما أنَّه لم يكن يخوضُ فيه إلَّا شِرذمةٌ أذِلَّةٌ سِرًّا بمناجاةٍ بينهم، وإذا العامَّةُ متمسكونَ منهم بالسننِ الأولى، والأمرِ الأولِ.
فكَرِهَ القومُ الخوضَ فيه إذ لم يكن يُخاضُ علانيةً، وقد أصابوا في تركِ الخوضِ فيه إذ لم يُعلَنْ، فلما أعلنوهُ بقوَّةِ السُّلطانِ، ودَعَوا العامَّةَ إليه بالسيوفِ والسِّياطِ، وادَّعوا أنَّ كلامَ اللهِ مخلوقٌ، أنكرَ عليهم ذلكَ مَن غَبَرَ من العلماءِ، ومن بقيَ من الفقهاءِ، فكذَّبوهم، وكفَّروهم، وحذَّروا الناسَ أمرَهم، وفسَّروا مرادَهم من ذلكَ، فكان هذا: من الجهميةِ: خوضًا فيما نُهوا عنه، ومن أصحابِنا: إنكارًا للكفرِ البيِّنِ، ومنافحةً عن اللهِ كيلا يُسَبَّ وتُعطَّلَ صفاتُه، وذبًّا عن ضعفاءِ الناسِ كيلا يضلُّوا بِمِحنتِهم هذه، من غيرِ أن يعرفوا ضدَّها من الحُجَجِ التي تنقضُ دعواهم، وتبطلُ حُجَجَهم.
فقد كتبَ إليَّ عليُّ بنُ خَشرَمٍ، أنَّه سمعَ عيسى بنَ يونسَ يقولُ: لا تُجالِسوا الجهميةَ، وبيِّنوا للناسِ أمرَهم كي يعرفوهم فيحذروهم.
وقالَ ابنُ المباركِ: لأنْ أحكيَ كلامَ اليهودِ والنَّصارى أحبُّ إليَّ من أن أحكيَ كلامَ الجهميةِ.
فحين خاضتِ الجهميةُ في شيءٍ منه، وأظهروهُ، وادَّعوا أنَّ كلامَ اللهِ مخلوقٌ، أنكرَ ذلكَ ابنُ المباركِ وزعمَ أنَّه غيرُ مخلوقٍ، وأنَّ من قالَ: ﴿ أَنَا
