figuratively. Rather, those among them who used the terms “literal” and “figurative” agreed that a person truly acts, and that Allah Most High is the Creator of his very being, his attributes, and his actions.

The first known denial of this came from al-Jahm ibn Safwān and his followers. They are reported to have said that a person is compelled, has no action of his own at all, and has no ability whatsoever. Al-Jahm was extreme in his denial of the divine attributes: he denied that Allah Most High could be called by any name also applied to a person. Thus, He could not be called a thing, or described as living, knowing, hearing, or seeing, except figuratively. It is reported, however, that he called Allah Most High “Powerful,” because, in his view, a person has no power; thus, according to his position, this name involved no likening of Allah to a person.

He and his followers denied that Allah has wisdom in His creation and His commands, or that He has mercy. They said: “He acted solely by sheer will, unaccompanied by mercy.” It is reported that he denied that Allah is the Most Merciful of all who show mercy, and that he would go out to people afflicted with leprosy, look at them, and say: “Would the Most Merciful of all who show mercy do this to these people?” He would also say: “People are compelled to perform their actions; they have neither action nor choice.”

Al-Jahm and his doctrines concerning the denial of the divine attributes, compulsion, and irjā’ emerged toward the end of Umayyad rule, after the emergence of the Qadariyyah, the Mu'tazilah, and others. The Qadariyyah had appeared earlier, toward the end of the era of the Companions. When his doctrine emerged in opposition to that of the Qadariyyah, the early generations and the imams rejected it, just as they rejected the position of the Qadariyyah among the Mu'tazilah and others