And what they mean by “justice” includes denying divine decree—that is, Allah’s creation of people’s actions, His willing of all that comes into being, and His power to act. Some of them deny His prior knowledge and prior recording of events; yet this is the position of their leading authorities. It is with these that al-Zamakhsharī aligns himself, for his doctrine is that of al-Mughīra ibn ‘Alī, Abū Hāshim, and their followers. The doctrine of Abū al-Husayn and the Mu‘tazilites who follow his approach has two forms: Masāyikhiyya and Khashabiyya.

As for the “intermediate position between the two positions,” they mean that a sinner cannot be called a believer in any respect, just as he cannot be called a disbeliever. They thus assign him a position between the two. By “carrying out the threat of punishment,” they mean that sinners within the Muslim community will remain in Hell forever, never leaving it through intercession or any other means, as the Khawārij also maintain. In their understanding, “enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong” includes the permissibility of rebelling against rulers and fighting them with the sword.

He filled his book with these principles, expressing them in language through which most people cannot discern either the principles themselves or his purposes in conveying them. In addition, it contains fabricated hadiths and relatively few reports from the Companions and their successors.

Al-Qurtubī’s commentary is far better than his, closer to the approach of those who follow the Quran and Sunnah, and further removed from religious innovations. Although each of these books inevitably contains matters open to criticism, one must judge them fairly