“As for the Ash'arīs,” some of them agreed with them concerning the attributes known through transmitted reports, and the majority agreed with them concerning the attributes reported in hadith. Regarding the attributes mentioned in the Quran, however, they hold two positions: al-Ash'arī, al-Bāqillānī, and their early adherents affirm them, while some acknowledge only some of them.

Yet they also exhibit Jahmī tendencies in another respect. Al-Ash'arī absorbed the speculative theology of al-Jubbā'ī, the leading Mu'tazilī scholar, and both his followers and others acknowledge his theological affiliation with him. Ibn al-Bāqillānī is the foremost in affirming the attributes after al-Ash'arī in his “al-Ibāna” (The Elucidation). After Ibn al-Bāqillānī comes Ibn Fūrak, who affirmed some of the attributes mentioned in the Quran.

“As for al-Juwaynī” and those who followed his approach, they inclined toward the Mu'tazilī doctrine. Abū al-Ma'ālī read Abū Hāshim’s books extensively but had little knowledge of transmitted reports; these two factors combined to influence him. Al-Qushayrī was a student of Ibn Fūrak. Thus, from that time onward, al-Ash'arī’s school grew harsher, and estrangement arose between it and the Hanbalis after they had previously been on friendly terms, or at least at peace with one another.

And “as for the Hanbalis, Abū 'Abd Allāh ibn Hāmid was firm and earnest in affirming the attributes, with a particular inclination toward questions concerning the attributes known through transmitted reports. His companion, Judge Abū Ya'lā, followed his approach, but was milder than he and less inclined to go beyond bounds in affirmation. As for Abū 'Abd Allāh ibn Batta, his approach was purely that of the hadith scholars, such as Abū Bakr