such as al-Qādī Abū Bakr, Abū Ya‘lā, and others who say: “He possesses knowledge and the state of being knowing, and His state of being knowing is a meaning additional to His knowledge.” This is the position of some who affirm the attributes, but the majority of them reject it, saying instead: “Knowledge and being knowing have the same meaning.”

There are “three matters” concerning the attributes:

The first is describing Him as Living, All-Knowing, and All-Powerful. There is agreement on affirming this, and it is termed predication.

The second is that these are meanings subsisting in His essence. This, too, is affirmed by those who affirm the attributes: the early generations, the imams, and those affiliated with the Sunnah across the various groups.

The third is states, namely, the states of being knowing and being powerful. There is disagreement concerning these among both those who affirm the attributes and those who deny them. Abū Hāshim and his followers affirm states but not attributes; al-Qādī Abū Bakr and his followers affirm both states and attributes; and most of the Jahmiyyah and Mu‘tazilah deny both states and attributes.

As for the great majority of the “people of the Sunnah,” they affirm the attributes but not states. A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere.