affirm the createdness of the Quran and of all . . . (1) Al-Ashʿarī, however, maintains that the Quran is eternal and that human speech is created by the Most Merciful. Thus, each of the three doctrines is clear to the discerning reader.”

The response is:

There is no doubt that the position of Ibn Kullāb, al-Ashʿarī, and others who affirm the divine attributes is not the position of the Jahmiyyah, nor even that of the Muʿtazilah. Indeed, they have written works refuting the Jahmiyyah and the Muʿtazilah and explaining the error of those who deny these attributes. Sometimes they declare the Jahmiyyah and the Muʿtazilah unbelievers, and sometimes they declare them misguided.

This is especially so since Jahm went further than anyone in denying the attributes—and even the Most Beautiful Names. His position is of the same kind as that of the esoteric Qarmatians. It is even reported that he would not call Allah “a thing,” or use any other designation also applied to created beings, because he claimed that this constituted an inadmissible likening of Allah to His creation. This is the position of the esoteric Qarmatians. It is also related that he would describe Him only as “possessing power and acting,” because, in his view, the servant has neither power nor agency; he was, after all, the foremost proponent of determinism.

His position on faith is worse than that of the Murjiʾah, for he regards faith as nothing more than the heart’s assent. Ibn Kullāb—the leading authority of the Ashʿariyyah—disagrees more strongly with Jahm and is closer to the early generations