created by Allah, whether good or evil, and that He has willed only what He has commanded in His law; everything else occurs without His will. Later Shia scholars, such as al-Mufīd, Abū Ja'far al-Tūsī, and others like them, agreed with them on this. This Abū Ja'far has a Quran commentary that follows this approach, but combines it with the doctrines of the Twelver Imāmiyyah. Among the Mu'tazilah, however, none professes those doctrines or denies the caliphates of Abū Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthmān, and 'Alī.

Among the principles that the Mu'tazilah share with the Khawārij is “the fulfilment of the threat of punishment in the Hereafter”: Allah will accept no intercession for those guilty of major sins, nor bring any of them out of the Fire. Undoubtedly, groups among the Murji'ah, the Karrāmiyyah, the Kullābiyyah, and their followers have refuted them. At times they argued well, and at other times poorly, until they came to occupy opposite extremes, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

The point is that people such as these adopted a doctrine and then construed the words of the Quran to fit it. They have no predecessors among the Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, or the leading scholars of the Muslims, either in their doctrines or in their interpretations. The falsity of every one of their erroneous interpretations is evident in many ways. This can be established from two directions: through knowledge of the falsity of their doctrine, and through knowledge of the falsity of the interpretation they have given the Quran, whether as evidence for their doctrine or as a response to their opponents. Some of these people write elegantly and eloquently, subtly inserting religious innovations into