in their view. See also Saʿīd Hawwā’s book Allah and the writings of al-Bāqillānī. Al-Hāfiz Ibn Hajar refuted them on this matter in al-Fath.

The Ashʿarīs deny that any of the actions of Allah Most High has an underlying cause embodying wisdom. Thus, they did not affirm wisdom among the seven attributes, contenting themselves with affirming will. In their view, therefore, Allah—glorified and exalted is He—is not Wise! For this reason, they consider it possible for Allah to impose obligations beyond a person’s capacity. They also say that Allah could consign the most devoted of His allies eternally to Hell and the most wicked of the disbelievers eternally to Paradise.

They hold views concerning prophethood, the infallibility of the prophets, and their miracles that contradict the creed of the Salaf. I will not prolong the discussion by citing them.

Regarding faith, the Ashʿarīs are Jahmī Murjiʾīs. The author of al-Jawhara said:

“Faith is defined as assent;
regarding verbal profession, there is indeed disagreement.”

This means that faith consists solely of inward assent. They differed regarding verbal profession of the testimony. In Tabsīt al-ʿAqāʾid, Shaykh Hasan Ayyūb favored the view that a person who assents in his heart will attain salvation before Allah even if he does not utter the two testimonies, and al-Būtī inclined toward this view. Thus, according to them, Abū Tālib is a Muslim and one of the people of Paradise—and perhaps Iblīs, Pharaoh, and all other disbelievers who assented without word or deed are as well!

The Ashʿarīs do not maintain that the Quran is the uncreated speech of Allah. Rather, they say that Allah’s speech is a pre-eternal and everlasting meaning subsisting in the divine essence; it consists neither of letters nor sound and cannot be described as either declarative or performative.

They adduce as evidence the words of the Christian al-Akhtal:

“Speech indeed lies within the heart;
the tongue was made merely to indicate what lies within.”

Glory be to Allah, the Magnificent! How can they reject authentic hadiths—sometimes on the grounds that they contradict reason and at other times because they are solitary reports from which matters of creed may not be derived—and then cite something like this as proof!

What is astonishing is that contemporary Ashʿarīs state this explicitly, even though the commentator on al-Jawhara sought to conceal it, saying: “It is impermissible to say that the Quran is created, except in the context of instruction.” See al-Bājūrī’s commentary