the Muʿtazila those who inclined towards a form of Shiism: either placing ʿAlī on an equal footing with the first two caliphs, preferring him to them, or disparaging ʿUthmān—although the Muʿtazila did not disagree over the legitimacy of Abū Bakr’s and ʿUmar’s caliphates. The early Muʿtazila, such as ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd and his associates, were hostile towards ʿAlī. They even used to say:

“If he and one of those who fought against him were to give testimony, we would not accept it, for one of them was a transgressor, though we cannot say which.”

Thus, the position held by the later Shiites and Muʿtazila contradicts that of the leading authorities and early adherents of both groups.

The sixteenth point:

You stated that the Hanbalīs “acknowledge that His essence, exalted is He, differs from the essences of these sense-perceptible things.”

This is true. But your singling out these sense-perceptible things suggests that in