Another group interpreted it in ways that are manifestly invalid. Some said that Adam prevailed over Moses in argument only because he was his father, and a son does not blame his father. Others said that the sin occurred under one revealed law, whereas the reproach was made under another. Others said it was because the reproach came after repentance. Still others said that this matter differs between this world and the Hereafter.

(A third group) made this hadith their principal basis for absolving those who disobey Allah and His Messenger of blame. Yet they could not apply this consistently: even in their own everyday affairs, those who do things that harm themselves and others must be blamed.

Some of them, however, began invoking this argument when it served their own desires and purposes, but not the desires of others. As has been said of such people: “When obeying, you are a Qadarī (proponent of free will); when sinning, you are a Jabrī (proponent of compulsion). Whichever doctrine suits your desires is the one you adopt.” When one of them sins, he begins invoking the divine decree as an excuse; yet if someone else sins or wrongs him, he will not excuse him. Such people are unjust transgressors.

Others among them say: “This applies to the people of spiritual reality, who have witnessed Allah’s oneness in lordship and lost all awareness of anything other than Allah. They therefore see no agent but Allah. Such people do not regard a good deed as good or an evil deed as evil, for they attribute no action to any created being; rather, they see no agent but Allah. This is unlike someone who regards himself as acting: he is blamed and punished.”

This is the view of many later Sufis who claim to possess spiritual reality. They may regard this as the ultimate realization and the highest attainment of spiritual knowledge and affirmation of Allah’s oneness. This is also the view of a group of scholars.