that, and therefore He loves it and approves of it.” Abū al-Hasan and most of his followers agreed with them. Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī stated that Abū al-Hasan was the first to disagree with the early generations on this issue, making no distinction between will, love, and approval.

As for the early generations of this community, its leading scholars, the foremost authorities in jurisprudence, hadith, and Sufism, and many groups of speculative thinkers, such as the Kullābiyyah, the Karrāmiyyah, and others, they distinguish between these things. They say that Allah loves faith and righteous deeds and approves of them, just as He neither commands nor approves of disbelief, wickedness, and disobedience. He does not love them, just as He does not command them, even though He has willed them.

For this reason, the scholars who uphold the Sharia, both later and earlier, have agreed that if someone swears to perform an obligatory or recommended act—such as repaying a debt for which little time remains, or performing an act of worship for which little time remains—and says, “If Allah wills,” but then does not perform it, he has not broken his oath. This invalidates the position of the Qadariyyah. If, however, he says, “If Allah loves this and approves of it,” then he does break his oath, just as he would if he said, “If He encourages and urges it, or commands it as obligatory or recommended.” This refutes the Jahmiyyah and those who followed them, such as Abū al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī and those among the later scholars who agreed with him.

A detailed discussion of these matters belongs elsewhere. The purpose here is to answer this “question”: the difficulties mentioned arise only from the position of Jahm and those who agreed with him among the later followers of Abū al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī and others, and a group of the later followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad.