the most knowledgeable of Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī’s shaykhs concerning the Sufis’ path and teachings. It is well known that these people are among the least inclined to curse others or do anything similar for personal motives. Had Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān not believed that the Kullābiyyah differed from the Sufi way so profoundly as to warrant such a response, he would not have cursed them in this manner.

The Kullābiyyah were the teachers of the Ash‘arīs, for Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī followed the method of Abū Muhammad ibn Kullāb. Ibn Kullāb was closer to the early generations both in time and in approach. Abū Bakr ibn Fūrak, al-Qushayrī’s teacher, compiled the statements of Ibn Kullāb and al-Ash‘arī and demonstrated their agreement on fundamental principles. However, the teachings of Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī had not yet become widespread; they spread during the fourth century, when the books of Judge Abū Bakr ibn al-Bāqillānī and others like him appeared.

The hadith master Abū al-Qāsim ibn ‘Asākir, a defender of Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī, mentioned this in his book entitled Exposing the Slanderer’s Lies Concerning What Is Attributed to Shaykh Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī. On this point, he agreed with Shaykh Abū ‘Alī al-Ahwāzī, who wrote on al-Ash‘arī’s faults, even though Ibn ‘Asākir rebutted al-Ahwāzī’s censure of him