their similar denial of the divine attributes.

• The Kullābiyyah—followers of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd ibn Kullāb—and the Ashʿarīs—those affiliated with Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī—are better than the foregoing sects in the matter of the attributes. They affirm for Allah the rational attributes, and their leading scholars, by and large, also accept the textual attributes, whereas in matters of predestination and of names and rulings their views remain quite close to the earlier groups.

• Ibn Kullāb’s immediate disciples—such as al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī—surpass the Ashʿarīs on both counts.

• The Karrāmiyyah, followers of Muḥammad ibn Karrām, hold doctrines on the attributes, predestination, and the promise and threat that are closer to the Sunnah than those of most speculative theologians who diverge from it. Their stance on faith, however, is objectionable and without precedent: they define faith as nothing more than the utterance of the tongue, even if unaccompanied by heartfelt assent. Hence, in their view the hypocrite is a believer—albeit one who will abide eternally in the Fire.

• The Muʿtazilah—followers of Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ, who left the study circle of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī—approximate Jahm’s position by denying the divine attributes, yet they diverge from him in predestination and in names and rulings:
– Predestination: they contend that the servant acts entirely of his own accord, with complete volition, and that Allah neither decrees nor creates his deeds—an element of shirk arises from this claim. Jahm, by contrast, held that the servant is compelled and has no will of his own.
– Names and rulings: the Muʿtazilah say that the perpetrator of a major sin is outside the fold of faith but has not entered outright disbelief; he occupies an intermediate position yet will nonetheless remain eternally in Hell. Jahm maintains that such a person is a believer in full and not liable for entry into the Fire.