For this reason, you find the Mu‘tazilah, the Murji’ah, the Rāfidah, and other people of innovation interpreting the Quran according to their own opinions, reasoning, and interpretations of the language. Thus, you find that they do not rely on reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the Companions, the Successors, or the imams of the Muslims. They rely neither on the Sunnah nor on the consensus and transmitted reports of the early generations; rather, they rely on reason and language. You find that they do not rely on works of Quranic commentary based on transmitted reports, or on works of hadith and reports from the early generations. Instead, they rely on works of literature and the works of speculative theology composed by their leading figures.

This is also the way of the heretics: they draw only on works of philosophy, literature, and language. As for works concerning the Quran, hadith, and transmitted reports, they pay them no attention. These heretics turn away from the texts of the prophets because, in their view, they do not impart knowledge, whereas the others interpret the Quran according to their own opinions and understanding, without reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions. We have already cited the statements of Ahmad and others condemning this and identifying it as the way of the people of innovation. If you carefully examine their arguments, you will find claims unsupported by evidence.

Judge Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī defended Jahm’s position on “the question of faith,” following Abū al-Hasan al-Ash‘arī, as did most of his followers. As for Abū al-‘Abbās al-Qalānisī, Abū ‘Alī al-Thaqafī, and Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mujāhid—the teacher of Judge Abū Bakr and a companion of Abū al-Hasan—they defended the position of the early generations. Ibn Kullāb himself, al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl al-Bajalī, and others like them used to say:

“Faith consists of both assent and verbal profession.”

In this, they agreed with those jurists of Kufa who held this view, such as Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān and those who followed him, including Abū Hanīfah and others.