and ‘Ā’ishah, for they say that these three repented of fighting him. All of them profess allegiance to ‘Uthmān and hold Abū Bakr and ‘Umar in great esteem. They regard sins as grave matters and therefore strive to be truthful, like the Khawārij; they do not fabricate lies as the Rāfidah do. Nor do they advocate establishing an abode distinct from the abode of Islam, as the Khawārij do. They have written books explaining the Quran and defending the Messenger, and they possess many merits that give them an advantage over the Khawārij and the Rāfidah. Their aim is to affirm Allah’s oneness, mercy, wisdom, and truthfulness, and obedience to Him. Their five principles derive from these five qualities. Yet they erred in some of what they said concerning each of their five principles.

Thus, under “divine oneness,” they included negating Allah’s attributes, denying that He will be seen, and asserting that the Quran is created, thereby agreeing with the Jahmiyyah. Under “justice,” they included the claim that He does not will what occurs, that what He does not will occurs, and that He did not create His servants’ actions. They thus denied His power, will, and creation in order to affirm justice. Under mercy, they included denying things He created because they did not recognize the wisdom in them.

Likewise, they and the Khawārij upheld “the fulfillment of threats of punishment” to affirm that the Lord is truthful and does not lie. For, in their understanding, He had announced a general threat of punishment, and unless this position were upheld, it would follow that He had lied. They erred in their understanding of the threat.

Likewise, by “enjoining right and forbidding wrong by the sword,” they intended obedience to Allah and His Messenger, just as the Khawārij and the Zaydiyyah do, but they erred in this. Likewise, by denying extraordinary occurrences other than prophetic miracles, they intended to affirm prophethood