It is well known that, in the age of the Companions and the senior Successors, no one opposed the scriptural texts with rational arguments. The Kharijites and Shiites emerged towards the end of ‘Alī’s caliphate, while the Murji’ah and Qadariyyah emerged towards the end of the age of the Companions. These groups professed adherence to the texts and cited them in support of their views; they did not claim to possess rational arguments that contradicted the texts.

However, when the Jahmiyyah emerged towards the end of the age of the Successors, they opposed the texts with their own opinions. Even so, they were few in number and kept in check within the community.

The first of them was al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham, whom Khālid ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Qasrī slaughtered as a sacrifice on Eid al-Adhā in Wāsit. He said:

“People, offer your sacrifices; may Allah accept them. I am sacrificing al-Ja‘d ibn Dirham, for he has claimed that Allah did not take Abraham as a close friend and did not truly speak to Moses. Exalted is Allah far above what al-Ja‘d says!”

Then he descended and slaughtered him.

They only rose to prominence and gained power in the early third century, when they were strengthened by those who