There is no doubt that the Ash'arīs of Khurasan had deviated toward negating the divine attributes, while many Hanbalis went too far in affirming them. The judge Abū Ya'lā composed his book Ibtāl al-Ta'wīl (Refutation of Figurative Interpretation) in response to Ibn Fūrak, al-Qushayrī’s teacher. The caliph and others were sympathetic to Abū Ya'lā. When the Qushayriyya gained ascendancy through the Seljuks, that turmoil broke out. In that dispute, the Farrā'iyya had most of the truth on their side, along with some falsehood, whereas the Qushayriyya had some truth on their side, along with much falsehood.

The Mu'tazilī element entered Ibn 'Aqīl’s writings through his teachers, the two Mu'tazilīs Abū 'Alī ibn al-Walīd and Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Tabbān. Thus, in his book Ithbāt al-Tanzīh (Affirmation of Divine Transcendence) and elsewhere, he makes statements resembling those of al-Marīsī and others like him. Yet he also has many sound statements affirming the divine attributes, and this was the position upon which he ultimately settled in his book al-Irshād (Guidance), although he may at times go too far in affirmation. Nevertheless, his position on the attributes is close to that of the early Ash'arīs and Kullābīs: he accepts what is indicated by the Quran and mass-transmitted reports, while interpreting other texts figuratively. Hence some Hanbalis say, “I affirm the attributes, taking a middle course between Ibn 'Aqīl’s negation and Ibn Hāmid’s likening Allah to His creation.”

Al-Ghazālī’s writings contain a substantial philosophical element derived from Ibn Sīnā’s discussions in al-Shifā' (The Healing) and elsewhere, the Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Safā' (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity), and the writings of Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī. The Mu'tazilī element in his writings, however, is slight or nonexistent, just as the philosophical element in Ibn 'Aqīl’s writings is slight or nonexistent.