the younger generation. The leaders of guidance advanced against one another, coveting the splendor of this world. The wayward seized the reins of misguidance, throwing the hearts of the heedless into confusion.

Among the religious deviations that appeared among the Muslims was strained speculation about Allah’s oneness. This was the earliest heresy, comprising three foundations that emerged one after another: first, the deviant teaching concerning divine decree—the tribulation of Basra; then reviling the early Muslims—the tribulation of Kufa; then denying that Allah speaks—the tribulation of the East.

As for the tribulation concerning divine decree, the first to propound it was Maʿbad al-Juhanī, a man