Their statement—may Allah have mercy on them—“Pass them on exactly as they have come” constitutes a rebuttal of the Muʿaṭṭilah (those who negate the divine attributes), while their addition “without asking how” is a rebuttal of the Mushabbilah (those who liken Allah to His creation). Al-Zuhrī and Makḥūl were the most knowledgeable of the Tābiʿūn in their day, and the remaining four were the leading imams of the world during the generation of the Tābiʿ al-Tābiʿīn.

Al-Awzāʿī made this declaration only after the rise of Jahm, who denied that Allah is above His Throne and rejected His attributes, so that people would know the creed of the early predecessors was the very opposite of that. Of the same generation were Ḥammād ibn Zayd, [and Ḥammād ibn…].