such as the hand and face, disagree on two fundamental questions.

The first concerns which of these attributes are established: whether it is those conveyed by the Quran, or by reports that accord with it, or by the Quran and mass-transmitted reports, or also by sound reports, or by good reports, or by transmitted traditions. By affirming them, they mean that holding such a position is not impossible, though they disagree among themselves on this point.

The second concerns whether the meanings of these texts are to be affirmed in the manner described by al-Khattābī—which is also the position of Ibn Kullāb, al-Ashʿarī, and many groups among the followers of the imams, and which al-Qādī Abū Yaʿlā and others adopt regarding many or most hadiths—or in other ways. They disagree on this as well. This is not the place to detail their positions; we have merely drawn attention to the underlying issue.