Categories of People Concerning the Texts on the Divine Attributes:
In sum, the possible approaches to the Qur’anic verses and hadiths dealing with the divine attributes are six, and every one of them is adopted by a faction from among the people who face the Qiblah.
• Two groups say that these texts are to be taken according to their apparent meaning.
• Two groups say that their apparent meaning is not intended.
• Two groups keep silent.
As for the first pair, they themselves divide into two:
[Those who take the texts at face value: 1) Ahl al-Sunnah, 2) the anthropomorphists]
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The first subgroup takes the texts at face value but understands that face value to belong to the same kind as the attributes of created beings. These are the anthropomorphists, and their doctrine is false, repudiated by the early generations, and it is against them that the rightful refutation is directed.
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The second subgroup takes the texts at face value in a manner befitting the majesty of Allah, just as the plain sense