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The opposing “negators” are likewise divided. Some deny the attributes altogether; discussion with them therefore concerns the attributes in general, not specifically the “attributes pertaining to His will.” Others affirm the attributes but maintain that nothing subsists in His essence through His will and power. Such a person says that He does not speak by His will and choice, and that His being pleased or displeased, loving or hating, and choosing do not occur by His will and power. He also says that He does not perform an act—“namely, creation”—by which He creates the created thing. In his view, Allah has no power to perform an act subsisting in His essence; rather, the object of His power can only be something separate from Him.

This is a point on which the negators themselves disagree. Some say that the “object of His power” can only be something distinct from Him, as the Jahmiyyah, Kullābiyyah, and Muʿtazilah maintain. Others say that the “object of His power” can only be something subsisting in His essence, as the Sālimiyyah and Karrāmiyyah maintain. The correct position is that both are within His power.

As for an “act,” examples include His words, Exalted is He:

“Say, ‘He is able to send upon you punishment from above you or from beneath your feet.’”

And His words:

“Is He not able to give life to the dead?”

And the words of the disciples:

“Is your Lord able to send down to us a table spread with food from heaven?”

And His words:

“Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them?”

And His words:

“Do they not see that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and did not grow weary