He said: One group adopted a middle course: they opened the door to nonliteral interpretation in everything relating to the attributes of Allah Most High, while retaining the apparent meanings of texts concerning the Hereafter and disallowing nonliteral interpretation of them. These were the Ashʿarīs.

The Muʿtazilah went further: among the attributes of Allah Most High, they interpreted nonliterally His being seen, as well as His being All-Hearing and All-Seeing. They also interpreted the Ascension nonliterally, claiming that it had not been bodily. They likewise interpreted nonliterally the punishment of the grave, the Scales, the Bridge, and a number of matters concerning the Hereafter. Yet they affirmed the resurrection of