and the followers of the early generations. Likewise, concerning faith and the threat of punishment, they followed the approach of the extremist Murji’ah, such as Jahm and his followers.

Jahm became notorious for two kinds of innovation:

One concerned the divine names and attributes. He went to extremes in denying both the names and the attributes. The heretics among the Bātiniyyah, the philosophers, and others like them agreed with him on this. The Mu'tazilah agreed with him in denying the attributes, but not the names. The Kullābiyyah—along with those of the Sālimiyyah who agreed with them, and the jurists, hadith scholars, and Sufis who followed their approach—agreed with him in denying the attributes connected with Allah’s will, without denying the attributes altogether.

The Karrāmiyyah and others like them agreed with him on the underlying principle: that an infinite succession cannot continue indefinitely, and that it is impossible for Allah to have always spoken whenever He wills and done whatever He wills whenever He wills, because a succession of events without a beginning is impossible. On the basis of this principle—namely, denying the existence of anything endless in the future—Jahm held that Paradise and the Fire would cease to exist.

Abū al-Hudhayl, a leading authority of the Mu'tazilah, agreed with him on this, but formulated his position in terms of movements coming to an end.

Thus, concerning the divine attributes, the Mu'tazilah are the effeminate counterparts of the Jahmiyyah.