of volition in His very being—this is the view held by groups other than those mentioned, including Abū al-Husayn al-Basrī. It is also the position preferred by Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Khatīb al-Rāzī and other speculative thinkers. Some have stated that this position follows necessarily from the views of all these groups.

‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd al-Dārimī affirmed the use of the term “movement” in his refutation of Bishr al-Marīsī, defending it as the position of the people of the Sunnah and hadith. Harb ibn Ismā‘īl al-Kirmānī also mentioned it when setting out the doctrine of the adherents of the Sunnah and transmitted tradition, attributing it to the people of the Sunnah and hadith as a whole. Among those he had met who held this view, he named Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh, ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr al-Humaydī, and Sa‘īd ibn Mansūr. This is also the position of Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Hāmid and others.

Many of the people of hadith and the Sunnah say: “The meaning is correct, but this term should not be used, since it does not occur in the transmitted reports.” Abū ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr and others mention this in their discussions of the hadith of descent.

The position widely recognized among the people of the Sunnah and hadith as that of the early generations is to affirm what the Quran and Sunnah state: that He comes, descends, and performs other such intransitive acts. Abū ‘Amr al-Talamankī said: “They unanimously agreed—meaning the people of the Sunnah and the community—that