Abū Muhammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘īd ibn Kullāb, Abū al-Hasan ‘Alī ibn Ismā‘īl al-Ash‘arī, Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Karrām, and others. Nor is it the position of the leading scholars of Quranic exegesis, hadith, or Sufism.

Declaring someone an unbeliever over this issue is not the position of these scholars. Anyone who makes such a declaration must therefore be called upon to repent. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, he must receive a punishment that deters him and others like him from doing such a thing—unless he manifests something that entails his own unbelief and heresy, in which case the ruling applicable to others of his kind applies to him.

Likewise, anyone who brands others as sinners for holding such a position must receive a discretionary punishment after the proof has been established against him, for this amounts to branding the majority of the leading scholars of Islam as sinners.

As for judging a position on this issue to be correct or mistaken, that is a matter discussed by well-versed Muslim scholars who adhere to the Sunnah and the community. A detailed treatment would require a lengthy exposition beyond the scope of this fatwa. And Allah knows best.