and others. For when the Muslim community first disputed whether Allah, exalted is He, is or is not a body, those who engaged in this discussion were the speculative theologians. Abū al-Hudhayl al-‘Allāf and his Mu‘tazilite followers said that He is not a body, whereas Hishām ibn al-Hakam and his Shiite followers said that He is a body. The former defined a body as that which can bear attributes, or perhaps as something composed of parts, whereas the latter defined it as that which subsists in itself, or as an existent.

Al-Ash‘arī, in his book The Doctrines of the Muslims and the Disagreements of Those Who Pray, after mentioning their disagreements concerning the major questions of speculative theology, divine oneness, divine decree, religious designations and rulings, the imamate, and the threat of punishment, said:

“An account of people’s disagreements on subtle questions. The speculative theologians held twelve different views on what a body is. Some said: ‘A body is that which can bear accidents, such as motion, rest, and the like; thus nothing is a body unless it can bear accidents