then bring it to the soothsayers on earth and tell them of it, sometimes getting it wrong and sometimes getting it right. The soothsayers then relate it. But Allah has barred the devils from heaven by means of these stars, so soothsaying has now ceased: there is no more soothsaying.’”

Al-Bukhārī also said:

“Nuʿaym ibn Hammād clearly explained that the Lord’s speech is not created, and that the Arabs distinguish the living from the dead only by action: whoever acts is alive, and whoever does not act is dead. He also explained that the actions of servants are created. He was subjected to persecution until he passed away, and the scholars grieved over what had befallen him.”

He said:

“The agreement of the Muslims demonstrates that Nuʿaym and those who followed his way were neither renegades from the faith nor innovators. Rather, innovation and assuming leadership in ignorance are more fitting descriptions of others, for they issue fatwas based on divergent opinions for which Allah has given no permission.”

[Al-Muhāsibī’s discussion in Understanding the Quran]

In his book Understanding the Quran, al-Hārith ibn Asad al-Muhāsibī discussed what is subject to abrogation and what is not, as well as verses thought to contradict one another. He reported two views held by Ahl al-Sunnah concerning will, hearing, and sight, in passages such as His words:

“You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, in safety” (al-Fath: 27),

and His words:

“When We intend to destroy a town” (al-Isrāʾ: 16),