‘Abbād ibn al-‘Awwām al-Wāsitī said:

“I spoke with Bishr al-Marīsī and his companions and found that their discourse ultimately led them to say that there is nothing in heaven. By Allah, I hold that there should be neither intermarriage nor mutual inheritance with them.”

Such statements are frequent in their discourse. The speculative theologians who record people’s doctrines likewise described “the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah and the people of hadith” in this way. Among them was Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī, in the book he composed on Differences among Those Who Pray and the Doctrines of the Muslims. In it, he discussed the views of the Khawārij, the Rāfidah, the Mu‘tazilah, the Murji’ah, and others.

He then said:

“An Account of the Doctrine of the People of the Sunnah and the People of Hadith

“Their position, in summary, is to affirm Allah, Mighty and Majestic, His angels, His Books, His messengers, what has come from Allah, and what trustworthy narrators have transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They reject none of this.”

He went on to say:

“And that Allah is upon His Throne, as He said:

‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.’

“And that He has two Hands, without specifying how, as He, the Exalted, said:

‘What I created with My two Hands.’

“They affirmed that Allah has knowledge, as He said:

‘He sent it down with His knowledge.’

‘No female conceives or gives birth except with His knowledge.’

“They affirmed hearing and sight and did not deny these of Allah as the Mu‘tazilah did. They said that no good or evil occurs on earth except what Allah wills, and that things come to pass by Allah’s will, as He said:

‘You do not will unless Allah wills.’”

He went on to say: “They say that the Quran is the speech of Allah, uncreated, and they believe the hadiths transmitted from the Messenger of Allah