Both contain evidence that He punishes only for sin, contrary to what is asserted by the “determinists,” the followers of Jahm: that He, exalted be He, punishes without sin. A group affiliated with the Sunnah, including al-Ashʿarī and others, followed him in this. It is also the view of Judge Abū Yaʿlā and others. They said that Allah may subject children in the Hereafter to endless punishment without their having committed any sin. They invoke this verse to refute those who say that reason requires the punishment of those who fail to act. Yet the verse is also evidence against them, since they allow punishment without sin. Thus, it is evidence against both groups.

There are similar verses in the Quran, such as His saying:

“Your Lord would never destroy towns until He had sent to their principal town a messenger reciting Our verses to them.”

And His saying, exalted be He:

“So that people would have no argument against Allah after the messengers.”

And His saying:

“Whenever a group is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, ‘Did no warner come to you?’ They will say, ‘Yes, a warner did come to us, but we denied him and said, “Allah has revealed nothing; you are only in great error.”’”

What they did before the messengers came was sinful, reprehensible, and evil; however, the proof is not established against them until a messenger comes. This is the view of the majority.

It has also been said that an act becomes reprehensible only when it is prohibited. This is the view of those who recognize neither goodness nor reprehensibility except through commands and prohibitions. Such is the view of Jahm, al-Ashʿarī, and those who followed him among people affiliated with the Sunnah and among the followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad, such as Judge Abū Yaʿlā, Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī, Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī, and others. The majority of the early and later generations hold that what they practiced before